Barbara Sack

Barbara Menninger Sack, aged 101, died in Newport News, Virginia on December 3, 2024. Her parents

were Dr. Edwin Arnold Menninger, a renowned botanist and journalist, and Ella May Waldron

Menninger Shuman, whose interest in cooking and nutrition Barbara inherited. A beloved aunt, she

will be sorely missed by her family. She was preceded in death by her husband, Harold Jesse Sack, her

brother, Edwin A. Menninger, Jr. of Lillington, NC, and her sister, Suzanne Shuman Felker of Tucson, AZ.

She was a granddaughter of the renowned Dr. C. F. Menninger, founder of the Menninger Sanitarium

in Topeka, Kansas, now part of Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Born in West Palm Beach, FL on September 15, 1923, Barbara was raised in Washington, D.C. where

she graduated cum laude from Holton-Arms Junior College in 1942.

She worked as an executive secretary with the international program of Moral Re-Armament from

1943 – 1970 at the MRA conference center at Caux-sur-Montreux, Switzerland and in other countries

in Europe. She spent nine years in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Mexico as a secretary

and as a translator and interpreter in Spanish and Portuguese. She was a paralegal at the leading law

firm in Tucson for twelve years. She held a lifelong zest for learning, deciding late in life to enroll at the

University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Russian in 1983.

Always glad to use her language skills, she was an interpreter for the Brazilian sailing team at the 1996

Olympic Games in Savannah, GA.

In the early 1960’s Barbara’s work took her to Tucson, AZ. In 1967 she met and married Harold Sack, a

native of Savannah, GA and a skilled architect and builder. Together they built a mobile home park, a

number of residences, and lastly a fine year-round home in Alpine, northern Arizona. They enjoyed

worldwide travel for many years, often reconnecting with acquaintances from their years together in

Moral Re-Armament. They frequently attended recitals and concerts in the Tucson area as well as

performances given by family members. Barbara sang with church choirs throughout her life and

played the piano.

As the new millennium developed, she and Harold moved to a retirement community along Tucson’s

Rillito River, where they could have both their private residence and the amenities of the community.

Barbara continued to live in Tucson until 2015, when she relocated to Virginia to join her niece Jocelyn

Sack Reiter Ellison and her husband, R. Morris Ellison and other family members. In 2021 she moved to

Newport News to be closer to her niece Rene McDonald, whose frequent visits brought her much joy.

Her 100 th birthday celebration included a festive luncheon and greetings from across the nation.

Barbara will be buried in the Sack family plot in Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA where she will

join Harold, who passed away in 2005 at age 93.

A service for Barbara will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, January 3, 2024 at Bonaventure Funeral Home,

2520 Bonaventure Rd., Savannah, GA.