Sara Katherine Guffey, 89, of Prairie Village passed away on Wednesday, February 18 after a brief illness.  Sara was born the daughter of George R. and Katherine (Denny) Carmack on August 7, 1936 in Plattsburg, Missouri, where she was raised by her grandparents Ward and Alma (Riley) Carmack.  After graduating from Plattsburg High School, Sara attended the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and graduated with a degree in Education.

While attending the University, she met Roger Guffey, an Army veteran and law student.  They were married on February 7, 1959 in Plattsburg, and settled in the Kansas City area, where Sara taught school and Roger practiced law, first in private practice and later for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, where he was eventually appointed President.

Upon the adoption of the first child on St. Patrick’s Day in 1964, Sara retired from teaching to become a full-time mother and housewife. She was actively involved in her children’s education, as well as the Kansas City Young Matrons, the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Altar Guild and many Bible studies as a leader and participant.

As Roger began to show effects of MS, she became his caregiver, as well as serving a similar role for her son Mike, when he suffered from kidney failure.  She and Roger spent winters in Carefree, Arizona, starting in the mid-80s, where she developed a new set of friends in addition to those in Kansas City.

Sara was preceded in death by her parents, grandparents and husband, who passed shortly after their 50th wedding anniversary in 2009. She is survived by her son, Michael Guffey; daughter, Sara (Pat) Hopewell; and granddaughter, Grace Hopewell, as well as several cousins and many friends. She had a talent at befriending people throughout her life, as her grandmother had done when she was growing up, and nobody she met remained a stranger to her.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Menorah Hospital, The Village at Mission and Ascend Hospice for their help in her final weeks, as well as her special friends and neighbors from the “back” building at Normandie Court for their support through the years.

Services to be held at Bethany Lutheran Church at 9101 Lamar Ave. on Overland Park are pending.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like to suggest donations in her memory to Heart to Heart International, Bethany Lutheran Church or In Touch Ministries, which were all special to her.