Karen Sarah P. Iturralde, aged 61, passed away peacefully at her home in Wilmington, DE, on Thursday, June 22nd, surrounded by her beloved husband, Juan, and children Sebastian, Benjamin, Camilla, and Benedict. She was a joyful and energetic woman who loved creating, tending to her garden, caring for her family and always ready to go out of her way to help.
Sarah was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1961, to Patrick Charles Blow and Doris Gray Blow (Hossack). When Sarah was seven, her family moved back to the UK, where she grew up in south London, spending summer holidays in her cherished Sheigra, a magical little place on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands.
Before starting university, she decided to take a gap year in Ecuador, where she stayed with some dear friends of the family and worked as a language teacher. During this year, she would also meet her future husband, Juan, and they would later reconnect in London while she was a student at St. Mary’s University, Queen’s college. They became best friends, fell in love, and got married on December 1st, 1984. Shortly after they started their family in the UK, Juan was assigned to head an operation in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where the family would move to for one year, and then they relocated to Cuernavaca, Mexico. Sarah and the family enjoyed ten inspiring years and benefited from the country’s beauty and rich culture, making many friends that they would hold dear for the rest of their lives. During these years, Sarah started her own nursery school, and then later worked as a 5th and 6th grade primary school teacher. She was passionate about teaching just like anything else she embarked on.
Sarah and her family relocated again to New Jersey, USA in late 2001. She would spend the next ten years being a guiding light to her children and resumed working as a language teacher, and created language learning materials for students abroad.
Once their children grew up and entered university, Sarah and Juan moved down to Wilmington, Delaware, where they would spend many years in each other’s loving company. They received many frequent visits from family and friends alike, with whom they enthusiastically shared their favorite walks and hikes at nearby parks and nature reserves.
Even into her early cancer years, starting in late 2017, when Sarah had her initial successful surgery, she enjoyed life fully and managed to revisit her much-loved Sheigra, then Italy and Spain over the following two years. Chemo and radiation did not start until 2019, after the cancer metastasized.
Sarah was a brave woman with a magnificent spirit and strength, who fought cancer for over five and half years and was determined to live on to spend more time with her family and watch her grandchildren grow. The pandemic years brought about restrictions, but she was always grateful for her blessings. Her husband started working from home in April 2020 which allowed him to be by her side.
In addition to being a teacher Sarah was, herself, a lifelong learner – always teaching herself a new craft. She was incredibly talented and mastered any task she tried whether it be embroidery, re-upholstering furniture, or a new recipe for her family to enjoy. She was a talented painter, a book lover, and an avid crossword puzzle solver. During the last five years of her life, Sarah was able to see all four of her children marry their loving partners, and she became a grandmother to Leo, Phoebe, Lila, and Mila. Like everything in her life, Sarah took quickly to being a grandparent. She adored her grandchildren, and they adored her. Though she spent the last few years fighting a brave battle against cancer, her dedication to her husband, children and grandchildren never wavered. She enjoyed the simple pleasures of life and was the life of the party until the very end. She will be deeply missed by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing her, but her memory will live on in the beautiful family that she created and the many memories of her vibrant spirit.
In addition to her husband, children and grandchildren, Sarah is also survived by her loving sisters, Wendy and Fiona, and brother Patrick.
Some recent remarks from friends, worth quoting:
“…our hearts are filled with such deep sorrow to hear this sad news. We will remember dear Sarah with so much love and happiness.”
“…Use this tragedy as a source of strength for you and the family.”
“…She would go out of her way to help.”
“…She had that mischievous twinkle in her eyes and a contagious laugh.”
“…What marvelous memories we have of Sarah…. She was a very special person I was lucky to call her my friend.”
“…Grateful to have met her and known her and she will be sorely missed, but her memories will forever be in our hearts.”
“…Vivacious, vibrant person who made a lasting impression on those around her.”
“…She made you feel like you’ve known her your whole life.”
“…un ser humano spectacular. Mi Dios ya la tiene a su lado descansando de todo dolor terrenal. Ella es un angel que cuidara de todos ustedes incluso de mi.”
“A truly wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother and my best friend. She is deeply missed but will live forever in my heart!” Juan
Sarah was cremated in an intimate setting, witnessed by her husband and children, on Wednesday, June 28th, 2023arah was cremated in an intimate setting, witnessed by her husband and children, on Wednesday, June 28th, 2023.
A funeral mass will be held on Friday, July 7, 2023 at 11:00 AM at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church, 2013 Gilpin Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware 19806. Interment will be private.
A gathering to celebrate Sarah’s life will be announced shortly.
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