Sarah M. (Lord) Heim

Sarah M. Heim, 99, of Conway, SC died Sunday, October 3, 2021 at Conway Medical Center, SC.

Sarah was born at home in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA on March 29, 1922. She was the daughter of the late Richard and Margaret (Morgan) Lord.

Sarah graduated from Kensington High School for Girls in 1940 and worked as a secretary until her marriage to Charles Banecker in 1941. Then, as America entered WWII, Charlie was drafted and stationed at various military bases around America until he was shipped to the Philippines. After the war with Japan ended, Sarah and Charlie settled in a house on Jasper Street in Philadelphia. Sarah and Charlie had two children together, Marge and Chuck.

Tragically, in 1949, Sarah’s husband Charlie died in a car accident. Soon after, Sarah met Joseph Heim who was a widower with two children of his own, Joseph and Sarah Ann. They married February 18, 1950 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Philadelphia.

Sarah and Joe continued to live in Philly and added three more children to the family, Donald, Frances and Michael. Their dream was to purchase land and build a house for the family in Pine Hill, NJ. Joe had spent summers in Pine Hill as a child and knew it would be a great place to raise a family. It took five years, but in February 1955 Sarah and Joe and their seven children moved into their new home in Pine Hill. A year later on February 19, 1956 Donna Maria was born. The Heim family was truly the first “Yours, Mine and Ours” family.

Sarah and Joe welcomed many new members to the family as their children married and had offspring of their own. They were the proud parents of eight and grandparents of (eventually) 10 grandchildren. There are currently 11 great grandchildren.

Eventually, after all her children started school, Sarah decided to go back to work as a secretary. She worked for a short time at Fidelity Bank in Philadelphia and then worked as a legal secretary for Rawle & Henderson, the oldest law firm in America. Sarah stayed at Rawle & Henderson until her retirement in 1985.

Sarah lost her husband Joe to cancer on August 12, 1981. Two years later, her mother, who was living with Sarah in Pine Hill, died at the age of 96. A few years later, she sold the house to her son Mike and resided in various locations in New Jersey until making the big move in 2002 to Myrtle Beach, SC where her daughter Marge and son-in-law Jim Garvey lived.

During her retirement, Sarah loved spending more time with her grandchildren. She also loved travelling to all parts of the world. She was also very artistic, painting numerous scenes from her travels abroad. Many of her paintings are proudly displayed in her children’s homes.

In addition to her parents and husbands, Sarah was preceded in death by her brother Richard (Phillipa)Lord, her sons Charlie Heim and Joseph Heim, her daughter Frances (Charlie) Glacken, son-in-law Tom (Sally) Davis, daughter-in-laws Paula (Don) Heim and Roberta (Joseph) Heim and granddaughter Bernadette Garvey.

Sarah is survived by three daughters, Marge (Jim) Garvey, Sally Davis and Donna (Bruce) Levin. She is also survived by two sons, Donald R. Heim and Michael (Joyce) Heim.

Sarah’s surviving grandchildren are Tracey (Mike) Nardone, Christopher (Laura) Garvey, Cindy (Frank) Dinanno, Cari Garvey, Chuck (Sheila) Heim, Jennifer (Bill) Glendening, Michael (John) Heim, Alison (Suketu) Sonecha and Celina Levin and her fiance’ Ray Gmetri.

Sarah’s surviving great grandchildren are Bill Glendening III, Mia Nardone, Mikey Nardone, Karlie Glendening, Kelsey Garvey, C.J. Garvey, Riley Garvey,  Justin Sonecha, Reid Sonecha, Graham Sonecha and Mira Sonecha.

A Funeral Mass with be celebrated at St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, 542 Cypress Ave, Murrells Inlet, SC on Saturday October 30, 2021 at 10:00 A.M. Internment will follow the funeral at St. Michael’s Columbarium.

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