Sarah Elizabeth Hacker, 77, Blue Springs, Mo., formerly of Harrisonville, Mo., passed away Thursday, March 12, 2020, at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Blue Springs, Mo., of a sudden illness. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 21, 2020, at the Atkinson Funeral Home in Harrisonville, Mo., with visitation from 1-2 p.m. Inurnment at a later date in Sunset Hill Cemetery in Warrensburg, Mo. People wishing to make memorial contributions in Sarah’s honor can make them to the American Red Cross or the Girl Scouts.
Sarah, daughter of Norris and Elizabeth Krack, was born on Oct. 19, 1942, in Augusta, Kan., where she grew up and graduated from Augusta High School in 1960.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Alvin Hacker; one sister, Sue Vest and one sister-in-law, Loneta Krack.
She is survived by her children: John Hacker, Carl Junction, Mo.; Karin Hacker and Kristin Hacker, Blue Springs, Mo.; one grandson, Alexander Jacob Hickman, Blue Springs; one brother, James Krack, Augusta, Kan.; two sisters: Sally Jones and husband, Dennis, and Sylvia Krack, both of Wichita, Kans.; one sister-in-law, Evelyn Herron, Lexington, Ky.; one brother-in-law, Bob Vest, Wichita, Kans.; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives.
In high school, she was active in Girl Scouts, science club and band, learning to play the flute, an instrument she would play for the rest of her life.
After High School she moved to Kansas City to attend Park College (now Park University) in Parkville, Mo.
Sarah said she met Alvin Clyde Hacker while bowling on the Plaza in Kansas City. In her words, he wouldn’t stop pestering her until she agreed to go out with him. They were married in December 1964.
The couple had their first child, John, on April, 28, 1965, in Kansas City, moved to the Denver, Colo., area where they had their second child, Karin, on Oct. 3, 1969, then they moved to Harrisonville, Mo., in 1970 and on June 25, 1974, they had their third child, Kristin.
Family was everything to Sarah — her immediate family and extended family and her family of friends.
She loved going to Winzer family picnics every Labor Day weekend and spending Christmas at her sister Sally’s home every year.
Sarah loved to travel, especially to the mountains of Colorado and New Mexico. Cascade Cottages, a set of resort cabins in Rocky Mountain National Park owned and operated by her high school science teacher and his wife, LV and Hazel Davis, was one of her favorite places. She visited the cottages several times in her life. She was especially happy to return to Cascade Cottages with her children and grandson, AJ, for a week in 2016, the final year it was open before it became the property of the National Park Service.
Through her parents and Mr. and Mrs. Davis, she gained a love for nature that she cultivated in her children and passed on to hundreds of other children throughout her life.
While raising her children as a stay-at-home mom, and in later years, Sarah lived a full life of service to others, especially children.
Sarah volunteered for the Harrisonville school district from 1979 to 1987, serving as “Picture Lady,” a Great Books facilitator, kindergarten screener and as BAT (Basic Aid Training) Lady. She judged in speech tournaments in Harrisonville and across the Kansas City area for 20 years.
She also volunteered for the American Red Cross in the greater Kansas City area, serving as a CPR instructor, swimming instructor, Water Safety Instructor (WSI), helping to lead the Red Cross Clown Corps and serving as a First Aid Team Leader.
She was a Girl Scout leader from 1975 to 1992, serving as director of Girl Scout Day Camps in Harrisonville for several years. She was known to Girl Scouts for years as “Mother Nature” showing children the joys and wonders of the outdoors. She also served on the Board of the Heart of America Girl Scouts.
Sarah was strong in her faith and lived a life of song, singing and playing her beloved flute and tin whistles. Music was intrinsic in her life. Sarah could perform before a crowd of thousands, or play a tune on a whistle in a gazebo in a mountain village where none but the wind and animals could hear her.
Sarah joined the RLDS/Community of Christ Church in 1965 and served as Sunday school teacher, Vacation Bible School Director, and sang and played special music. She sang alto for the Independence Messiah Choir every Christmas season from 1992-2008.
Sarah performed on stage with the Way Off Broadway Players community theatre group in Harrisonville starting in 1982 and appeared in a number of productions and designed and helped build sets and make costumes and props for plays in high schools, colleges and community theatre in several KC area communities.
She once painted a New York City skyline 24 feet tall and a London skyline that stretched the width of the stage at the Liberty, Mo., Performing Arts Theatre.
Sarah was active in the Society for Creative Anachronism from 1982-1995 as a calligrapher, demonstrating fiber arts, and playing and singing music at a variety of Renaissance Fairs for many years. She was recognized for her service in the SCA in 1990.
She delighted children at those Renaissance Fairs by playing their favorite nursery tunes on her whistle.
She was part of the Celtic music group Shillelagh Law from 1998 to 2016 with her daughters and others, and performed at fairs in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Oklahoma. She and the group recorded two CDs.
She also never stopped learning, returning to college after her husband died and her children were grown.
She attended Longview Community College in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, from 1989-1994, where she learned graphic design and served as editor-in-chief of the Longview Current newspaper and of the Shorelines Literary Magazine. She was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.
She worked as a tax examiner for the IRS in Kansas City from 2005-2019, where she was well known for playing her tin whistle in the hallways on St. Patrick’s Day.
