Sara Coder

ZILLAH - Sara June (Johnson) Coder, 79, of Zillah, WA passed away on April 6, 2014, at the home of her daughter and surrounded by her family, after suffering a heart attack. Born on June 3, 1934 in Crawford, Nebraska to Carl O. & Sarah F. Johnson, she was the youngest of four children. In the fall of 1937 the family moved to Washington State where her father purchased a 40 acre dairy farm in Outlook, WA. Sara attended the Outlook grade school. In 1950 the family sold the farm and moved to Buena, WA after Carl suffered a stroke. In 1952 Sara June graduated from Toppenish High School. She attended one year at Yakima Business College. On June 17, 1952 she married Richard “Dick” Coder. They had two daughters, Rickie Lynn and Vonda Joy. Dick and Sara June spent the majority of their married life in Toppenish, WA where they were active members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Sara was a homemaker up until her girls left home, when she went to work for Yakima Fruit & Cold Storage sorting apples in Wapato, WA for about 12 years, quitting in 1991. Sara started her own business called “Sunset Care” Adult Family Home, where she provided tender loving care to many elderly residents for nearly 20 years. Three years ago she retired for good and Dick & Sara sold their home in Toppenish and downsized to a retirement apartment in Zillah, WA. Sara June was preceded in death by her parents, Carl & Sarah Johnson, her sisters, Muriel Bush and Iris Edwards, and her brother Stanley Johnson. Sara June is survived by her husband of 60 years, Richard M. Coder, daughters: Rickie (Fred) Reimer of Zillah, WA and Vonda (Phillip) Riggs of Aberdeen, WA, five grandchildren: April Dodd of Garfield, WA, Christina (Warren) Devaney of Genesee, ID, Carmen (Ken) Barnett of Hoquiam, WA, Jason (Jennifer) Riggs of Toppenish, WA and Kali Riggs of Lacey, WA, nine great grandchildren: Ann-Marie, Gage, Jonathan, Michael, Arwen, Jacob, Jocelynn, Alex & Jaiden, and one great-great grandchild, Kara Lynn. A memorial service will be held in the Zillah Seventh-day Adventist Church, 202 Fifth St. on Monday, April 21 at 11:00 AM with a fellowship dinner following the service. A private burial of her cremains will be held at the Zillah Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the Zillah SDA church to be placed in a memorial fund, to be used for the purchase of flower arrangements for the church. Valley Hills Funeral Home in Zillah is in care of the arrangements. Online tributes can be left at valleyhillsfh.com. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Sara Coder, please visit our flower store.