KILMARNOCK—“If you are reading this, I had the last word.” Award-winning artist, Sarah Watson Soderlund, 80, of Kilmarnock, died October 11, 2026, after a brief illness.
Sarah was born July 26, 1946, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Richard Fisher Green and Margaret Webster Green, the fourth of five children. She graduated from Battin High School, where she was sent to the principal’s office so often that she brought him a plant to brighten the place. She went on to study at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art and at Kent State University.
When Sarah was 30, her mother, then 70, told her: “I am finally of an age that I can say exactly what I think.” Sarah was so appalled at the idea of waiting another 40 years that she decided not to wait to speak her peace.
In 1979, she married the love of her life, Robert Charles Soderlund, and they eventually settled in Virginia. They loved to travel, especially on freighters, and toured Europe and Great Britain with family and friends. Both were Master Gardeners, which was obvious to anyone who saw their gardens. Bob died in 2010.
Sarah was quick-witted, irreverent, funny and unpretentious. She loved people, she loved her life and she loved an audience. If you met up with Sarah, you were going to laugh. Her goal was to make at least one person smile every day. She knew the importance of humor; she laughed easily and made others laugh often. She could find humor in almost any situation, the bawdier the better, and had an impressively stubborn disposition. She was also a master list maker.
She stayed close to her siblings regardless of distance. For decades they met on Skype every Sunday morning: solving world issues, reliving the golden days, laughing and enjoying being together. She regularly went to Curves and the YMCA, and for many years she met friends on Friday mornings for bottomless cups of coffee at “their” table at McDonald’s.
Sarah volunteered widely. She was historian of the Rappahannock Art League, where she also exhibited, and a life member of the Virginia Watercolor Society. She taught art and mah-jongg, and played regularly at the library, pleased to come home with 12 cents in winnings. With the Lancaster Players she once had a role in a musical—and the director asked her not to sing. She also gave time to the YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club and the Election Board, and sold raffle tickets every year at the KVFD Carnival. Her boundless love of cats ran through all of it: the Animal Welfare League of the Northern Neck; the Cat Team, where she transported cats, fed a feral colony and fostered (a proud “foster failure”); and Garfield’s Rescue.
Sarah’s life was enriched by her three daughters, Elizabeth Fanguillo, Mae Watson Grote and Emily Grote; two stepsons, John Soderlund and Jeff Soderlund, and their spouses; 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; her sister, Wisher Barthelman and brother, Douglass Green; and many nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her beloved husband; her sister, Jane Vodrey; and brother, Jim Green. She is now reunited with Bob, and it will be a joyous reunion.
A celebration of Sarah’s life will be held at the Rappahannock Art League at 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 21. Friends and neighbors are welcome. Sarah asked that her life be celebrated with stories, laughter and kindness; we’d love to have you share one. In lieu of flowers, Sarah asked that you contact a distant loved one, make someone laugh today and hug a cat.
Donations may be made to Garfield’s Rescue, Lancaster Community Library, or Northern Neck Partners for Pets. “And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.” Genesis 21:6, KJV
