Mrs. Sally A. Sitzberger, 80, passed away June 24 at her residence. There will be a Celebration of Life this Wednesday, July 2, at the LaFargeville American Legion starting at 2pm. A burial will be private at the convenience of the family.
Sally was born at home on the family farm, on Perch Lake Road, LaFargeville, on July 28, 1944, the daughter of Roland and Flossie Davis.
Sally left home at a young age to travel, first staying in New York, then traveled through many states, the last being California. She came back to her roots, LaFargeville, in March of 1991, with John, “the love of her life.” She and John married in August of 1991, and made their home here. John died in a tragic accident. Sally attended LaFargeville Central School and got her GED at John’s urging.
Sal shared her love for adventure and shopping with Tim. She never passed up a rummage sale, a thrift store, a “for free” sign, or an ice cream parlor. Tim and she would go to country fairs, tractor pulls, fireworks, field days, and she always supported local events. Yearly, she would purchase twelve to fourteen dinners at chicken barbecues then deliver them to people in the community.
When she returned to New York, she was employed as Manager at a Motel, she did foster care work, and was employed as a caretaker at JRC, taking care of residents.
Every place they went, they made new friends. All these people’s names, phone numbers, and addresses, she kept in her blue book. She kept track of them with letters, cards, and phone calls.
Sally’s health problems worsened around June of 2024. She saw doctors who advised her to see specialists. She was constantly in and out of doctor’s offices, emergency rooms, and hospitals. She was taken by T.I.E.R.S. Ambulance Service many times, they were fantastic in giving her comfort and excellent care, especially Tracie. Amanda Rossen, her doctor, made house calls when Sally could no longer travel. Her family would like to thank them and River Hospitals ER staff for their excellent care. Her last visit was a trip to Rivers ER, where they again insisted she be transported to another hospital where they could give her the care she needed. Sally said “NO, no more,” she wanted to go home. So, against doctored suggestions, she signed herself out, and went home where she wanted to be with Tim and her family, and her animals in her own bed. We stopped along the way for a soft strawberry ice cream cone.
She was incredibly thankful to the people who took care and advocated for her throughout the last six months of her life. Those four need to be mentioned and thanked. Nancy Davis, Lauryn Lombardo, Brooklyn Davis, and most of all her angel, Sally always said, Melissa Orvis. A special thanks to Sally’s long time neighbors, Brian and Kim, for looking out for her over the years.
Surviving is a great grandson, which she called her son, Tim. She worked hard to adopt him and finally won custody when his adoption went through in November of 2024, right after Tim’s 16th birthday.
She is survived by a brother, Gary Davis and his wife Nancy, LaFargeville; a sister Bonnie Paige, of Redwood; and many nieces and nephews.
Three siblings passed before her. Wendal Davis and his wife Janice, Nancy Sampson and her husband Ed, all from LaFargeville; and Donald Davis of Pamelia.
Arrangements are with the T.R. Jetty Funeral Home. Condolences can be made at trjetty.com.
Elizabeth Daugherty
Sally was a wonderful woman to the children of the county by her Foster parenting skills. She was a loving but firm woman who shows her care in every day skills. She will be missed.
Mary White Titus
Sally, in spite of her circumstances always appeared to be happy and never failed to stop and chat with her fellow villagers, she will be missed here
Lauryn
Aunt Sally was a kind soul and anyone that had the experience of meeting her was lucky to do so. She had a heart of gold and was happy to share what she had with anyone that needed it.
I looked forward to Mondays, as I usually stopped in to see her. They won’t be the same without her here. I know heaven welcomed her with open arms.
Rest easy, I will miss our talks. You always knew how to make me laugh and I am honored that you looked forward to the time we spent together as much as I did.
Dennis Samson and Mary
Blessings and peace to Sally.She was a very gracious lady.Loving memories from her nephew Dennis Samson and wife Mary.
Lynne Spears
R I P my gal Sal!
Such a great inspiration with her staunch fortitude! She always displayed strength & resilience and refused to cave in to all the “BS”.
Often times we supported each other through talk therapy. A great gal and steadfast friend, she will not be forgotten. Take it easy Sal, I’ll see you soon on the flip side.
Nancy Davis
Lynne you paid a great tribute to Sally with your words and you are so correct she was a fighter and hated BS. Thank you
Dawn Poole
To my aunt Sally I will remember when you helped me with getting a phone I truly appreciated it I would call you and you would call me just to talk and catch up what was new. I will miss you but I know you are no longer suffering anymore and you are reunited with family who passed away before you.
Julie Engle
Sally was a friend who would do anything for anyone. She was stubborn and she loved Timmy. She loved animals. If it was a stray and it showed up, it was guaranteed to always have a home. She was the same way with the neighborhood kids. If they needed a place her door was always open. Fly high there is no more pain.
Peter Orvis
My Condolences to the Family. It’s hard to say just one thing about Sally, because she was a one of a kind person. She was genuinely kind hearted, caring, helpful, funny and so much more. She’d help you if she could, and loved to visit with anyone. She was the type of person that you don’t see much in todays world, and with that being said, she will be truly missed.
Rebecca L Crosbie
She will be greatly missed. We always and forever consider her part of our family rest in peace sally.
BRIAN CORCORAN
I have lots to say about Sally, yet I’ll keep those memories and experiences for the immediately family if they desire to hear…The bible tells us the following –
1 Corinthians 9:24
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!
This was our experience with John and Sally…We purchased some land right across the street from them, we originally purchased the land because my wife wanted to have a couple of horses…The story is so long so I’ll shorten it up, we had no idea how we were going to feed these animals, it wasn’t until John and Sally introduced themselves and told us they would cut the field we own and take half of the hay and they would store the other hay that belonged to us in their barn…It was such a good deal I didn’t believe it was fair to them yet they told us it was more than fair…I remember driving to work and seeing Sally carrying hay across the road and feeding our animals…I thought this strange for we’ve never been treated like this before…Kimmie and I decided that we couldn’t let this charity we were being provided to go unpaid so we decided to start mowing their lawn, plowing them out in the winter and taking care of their driveway, and this is how it all started between us, a wonderful couple that took such care of us and that treatment towards us couldn’t be continued without giving something back…Then one day John was gone and all that was left was Sally, a lonely woman with so much to take care of…Again, the scriptures speak plainly –
James 1:27
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Keep in mind it wasn’t just the scriptures that kept us taking care of what Sally needed help with but the fact that both her and John were such wonderful neighbors that took care of a couple that had no clue how we were going to take care of those horses we purchased, they brought us through the establishment of my wife owning horses…So who won first prize in our eyes, Sally and John, the best neighbors anyone could ever dream of having…
Beyond this, John was gone and it just kept ringing in my ears, “you both need to take care of this woman now that her husband is gone”, and we did our best to do so…
Sally was always good to us, I forgot, when I read the original post that Sally took care of others, that back in the day Kimmie and I had access to free bread and other goodies we use to give Sally so she could hook up certain people in her life that were in need…
I write this to establish who Sally and John were in our lives, they were the best neighbors anyone could image for, they were always there for us, helping us, going the extra mile and ensuring a love and care for our animals…
And finally I want to add that I had numerous talks with Sally concerning God and how we obtain the free gift of eternal life…I told Sally that the one and only TRUE God chose Jesus Christ to die for our sins and to be resurrected ensuring our ability to be saved and enjoy eternal salvation if we only believe…She always told me she believed this…Based on what she told me I can look forward to living with Sally for eternity…