Sara Frances Snyder Harms' Obituary
Sara Frances Snyder Harms was born March 12, 1938, at home, delivered by a midwife, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Ruth Watson Snyder and Harley Snyder, in the small town of Prichard, near Mobile on the Gulf of Mexico. At age 85, she suffered a sudden brain seizure on June 24, 2023, and was called home by our Heavenly Father on June 28, 2023, at Plano Medical City, Plano, Texas.
Sara was a healthy child, growing up in a large Christian family of four sons and five daughters. When she was a toddler, one day her father Harley turned to her mother and asked, “Ruth, how did we ever produce such a beautiful child?” She grew into a beautiful woman but was never vain. She had a golden heart and was generous with her time, help, and love for family and friends. She became a Christian when young and her love of Jesus Christ matured deeply with age.
Sara’s first marriage, in 1958, was to Anthony Harwath of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with whom she had one child, her son Jason Harwath, who passed away at home in Plano, Texas, of natural causes in March 2018. Her second marriage, in 1979, was to Desmond (Dub) Harms of Dallas, Texas who passed away in hospice at home, in Sara’s tender care, in 2001.
At age 21, Sara’s robust good health began to deteriorate because of a disease that physicians described as crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis; but many years later her crippling affliction, almost fatal disease, was diagnosed as a rare skin and muscle disease known as Dermatomyostis. In 2002, she was diagnosed with a stage 4 cancerous tumor on her back that was surgically removed. As a testament to God’s healing power and Sara’s faith, she recovered completely without the need of chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
Sara pursued and achieved a successful federal civil service career, from which she retired in 1998, when she was Assistant to the Director of Dallas IRS. She was a remarkably courageous person and did not allow disease or pain to keep her from living a productive life, although for the last five years of her life she was completely bedridden.
Sara was a gifted genealogist whose decades of meticulous research resulted in several dependably accurate family histories. She traced her paternal ancestors to the early 1770s, some of whom served in the American forces led by George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.
Sara was preceded in death by her parents Harley and Ruth Snyder of Mobile, Alabama, her husband Desmond (Dub) Harms and her son Jason Harwath of Plano, Texas, her brothers Bert Snyder of San Antonio, Texas, Samuel Snyder, Gerald Snyder, and Dennis Snyder of Mobile, Alabama, her sisters Gloria Daniels Becker of Carrollton, Texas, Joyce Williams of Sarasota, Florida, and her niece Ashley Snyder Hodges of Mobile, Alabama.
Sara is survived by her sisters Juanita Smith of Youngsville, North Carolina and Annie Bond of Plano, Texas, by nieces Juana Smith of Youngsville, North Carolina, Amy Nevarez Smith of Franklinton, North Carolina, Phyllis Smith Turner of Moss Point, Mississippi, Cynthia Daniels Rohrbough of Carrollton, Texas, Susan Daniels Knowles of Plano, Texas, Celia Daniels Darrah of Wichita, Kansas, and by her nephews Robert Smith of Youngsville, North Carolina, Mark Smith of Newport News, Virginia, and Vance Williams of Bradenton, Florida, and by numerous great nieces and great nephews, and by her friend and devoted care giver Sarah Paris of Dallas, Texas.
Graveside service will take place at Restland Cemetery, Dallas, Texas, July 3, 2023, at 9:30 AM.
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