Mrs. Sarah Fairbanks Bull Clarkson

November 23, 1926 - October 4, 2021

Sarah Fairbanks Bull Clarkson, widow of Andrew Crawford Clarkson, Jr., died Monday, October 4, 2021. Born on November 23, 1926, in Georgetown, SC, she was the daughter of The Rev. Henry DeSaussure Bull Sr. and Gertrude Cornish Bull. Sarah grew up in Georgetown, SC where her father served as long-time rector of Prince George Winyah Episcopal Church in Georgetown, All Saints Waccamaw in Pawley’s Island, and Prince Frederick Chapel in Plantersville. She was graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1948 and married Crawford in 1949. She returned to USC over 20 years later to earn her master’s degree in librarianship, which she applied in building a health science library at the S.C. Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. She was the founder and chair of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Archives for twenty years. Also at Trinity, she served on the Vestry, as chair of the Altar Guild and president of the Daughters of the Holy Cross. She completed the Education for Ministry (EFM) program of the University of the South (Sewanee). She was a member of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of South Carolina and chairman of the Columbia Town Committee. Sarah was a founding member of her garden club, the Dianthus and was a member of The Club. Sarah served on the board of the Richland County Public Library where she was a member of the building committee which oversaw the planning and construction of the Richland County Public Library on Assembly Street and its new branches. Sarah was honored by the Friends of the Library by naming her the 2003 recipient of the Lucy Hampton Bostick Award. Sarah cherished time with her children and grandchildren, and they will cherish their memories of her and her many gifts. She was known for her warm spirit of welcome, love of friends, and the friends of her children. She embodied grace under stress, loved gardening, flower-arranging, sunsets at Lake Murray with a glass of wine in hand, lifelong learning, the history of South Carolina, and, in particular, loved and was devoted to the Church. Besides her parents, Sarah was predeceased by her husband, Andrew Crawford Clarkson, Jr.; siblings, the Rev. John Hamilton Bull, Caroline K. B. Grannis, Mary DeSaussure Quinn, Gertrude B. Terrell, Elizabeth B. Asnip, Henry DeSaussure Bull, Jr.; and her grandson, Peter Crawford Roney. Sarah is survived by her six children, The Rev. Jennie Taber Clarkson Olbrych (husband John and their children John Crawford, Ruslan, Christiana, Oksana, Maxim, Susan Lazarus), of Charleston, Sarah Bull Clarkson, MD, (husband John Herre and their children Margaret and Caroline), of Norfolk, Va., Susan Cornish Clarkson Keller (husband Kent), of Charleston, Margaret Crawford Clarkson (husband Peter Roney and their daughter Margaret Crawford), of Columbia, Andrew Crawford Clarkson, III (wife Caroline), of Columbia, and Thomas Boston Clarkson of Atlanta, Ga.; and a host of beloved nieces and nephews. Friends are invited to call at the Clarkson-Roney home, 4339 Chicora Street on Wednesday, October 6 from 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. The funeral will be Thursday, October 7, 2021, at 11:00 am at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, 1100 Sumter Street, with burial following in the churchyard. The family will receive friends at Trinity under the oaks following the burial. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lamb Institute, 215 Hickory St., Charleston, SC, 29407 or Trinity Cathedral Foundation, 1100 Sumter St., Columbia, SC, 29201. The family wishes to express their deepest appreciation for the loving care shown to our mother by Ms. Donna Turner, Solution for Living at Home, Still Hopes and Prisma Hospice.