Sara Jane Elliot Obituary (1940 - 2025)

Sara Jane McDonald Elliot Crowned Queen of Maritime Day for the Port of Portland, Maine in 1958, Sara Jane McDonald Elliot could also steer a rear-wheel drive car out of a skid on any snowy, rural road in her native state — or elsewhere, for that matter. Born in Portland on January 24, 1940, she died in Kennebunk on October 16, 2025. In between she traveled extensively in Europe, the UK, Africa and Greece. Eager to see new places, she always chose to see a new country, except Greece: she loved Greece so much she went back a second time. When Sara Jane graduated with a BA in English from Smith College in 1962, she moved to Denver, CO with four of her college friends. A year later, she married Samuel W. Elliot; they had four children born in Germany, Maine, and Wisconsin, living in cities and in the country, eventually growing and raising almost all their own food at their farm on King Hill Road in South Paris, Maine. A talented clarinet and piano player, Sara Jane taught her children to love music, and she spent her life playing music with friends in Maine, Wisconsin, and Florida. Divorced from Sam in 1979, she spent 6 years as an interior decorator then found her way to a career in financial planning, supporting the retirement futures of educators all over Maine. She became a champion of women’s opportunities in the state, joined by her partner in both life and the game of Bridge, Rita Clifford, with whom she lived for 32 years before their much celebrated legal marriage in 2013. Raised in the Congregational church in Portland, she raised her children in the Congregational Church in South Paris, where she taught Sunday School and led the Children’s Choir. Later, Sara Jane and Rita became Quakers, serving as Co-Clerks and then SJ as Treasurer of Portland Friends Meeting, where Sara Jane felt the Quaker belief that there is “that of God in everyone” spoke most clearly to her spirituality. Creativity also nourished Sara Jane’s soul: she loved to write and help others find their voice through writing. Up to the last weeks of her life, Sara Jane shared the love of expressive writing with her friends and neighbors at her home in Huntington Commons, as she had done for years with friends in her former beloved community of Carefree in Florida, where she and Rita spent happy times in retirement before their return to Maine in 2022. Sara Jane is predeceased by her parents, Daniel C. and Mary Louise Walker McDonald and her brother Daniel C. McDonald, II. She is survived by her spouse, Rita Clifford, her children: Emily Elliot (Peter Houghton), Karin Elliot Whitney, Liesl Elliot, Bruce Elliot (Marie-Pierre Nadeau); her grandchildren: Thomas Begley, Abbey Begley, Morgan Elliot, Elias Raimondi-Elliot (Sara Raimondi), Cora Elliot, Leeza Kopaeva; her great-grandson: Rowan Bouchard; her bonus children: Andrea Clifford (Gerald Chalo Taiti) Lynn Howe (Mark), Beth Clifford (Philip Harriman), and bonus grands: Olivia and Zachary Howe; her cousins: Marjorie Ramseur, Jane Siebert and her sister Margaret Heffner, and so many, many loving friends. The service of remembrance will be at Portland Friends Meeting on Saturday, November 22, 2025 at 2 pm with a reception to follow. Please consider donations in her honor to The Maine Women’s Fund stewarded by the Maine Community Foundation.