Sarah West, a longtime Mt. Airy resident and beloved figure in the Wissahickon Valley community, died of age-related ailments at age 87. A former math and science teacher at Germantown Friends School for over 25 years, West dedicated her retirement years to environmental education and surprisingly competitive dragon boat racing.
West lived in Mt. Airy for 31 years before moving to Cathedral Village in upper Roxborough almost a decade ago. Her passion for science and education found new expression in her work with Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW), where she served as a board member and Trail Ambassador, leading visitors on guided tours of Wissahickon Park.
"It is with a heavy heart that we report the loss of longtime volunteer and all-around amazing human being, Sarah West," FOW said in a prepared statement. "Sarah joined the FOW board of directors in the late '90s and was part of the very first class of Trail Ambassadors. With her background as a science teacher, she was instrumental in developing our popular Guided Walks & Talks program. Many years later, we still hear from people who fondly remember those hikes."
West's connection to the Wissahickon began in 1985. "I took a National Science Foundation workshop for teachers that was offered at Chestnut Hill College," she explained in a 2020 interview. "Half the day was to learn about computers, and the other half was to do earth science, and we had a couple of field trips down to the Wissahickon with some real-life geologists whom you could barely understand because they seemed to speak a special language that I called 'Geologese.'"
That experience sparked a new mission. "Three of us teachers thought we really could interpret this for the common man without using the highly technical terms that were being used to teach us," she said. "We started to walk in the Wissahickon and develop a little booklet, that we called 'Discovering The Wissahickon' on the geology of the Wissahickon and some of its ecology. It was a very small piece of work, but that's what got me interested … We developed some outdoor programs, and at one point over the course of a year we had over 40 different trail ambassador walks."
Her dedication to FOW continued for decades. She trained incoming Trail Ambassadors, wrote historical articles for the FOW website, and regularly picked up trash in the park. FOW awarded her the Volunteer of the Year Award at its annual Volunteer Recognition Night at Valley Green Inn in December 2013. She was also the recipient of the 2024 Leading Age PA Volunteer of the Year Award.
But West's achievements weren't limited to environmental education. As a young girl growing up in New England, she played on several sports teams including girls' basketball. "I was kind of feisty and could get in people's faces," she recalled. She spent her summers on an island off the coast of Maine, where her parents had built a house. "It was quite isolated. I learned how to row, sail and handle a motorboat. I learned to swim in Maine's icy cold water."
That early aquatic experience served her well years later when someone suggested she join the Philadelphia Flying Phoenix Dragon Boat Team. Despite never racing competitively before, she thought, "Why not?" Dragon Boat racing, which dates back over 2000 years, began in ancient China as a way of appeasing the rain gods. Today's sport normally consists of 20 paddlers in a 45-foot boat.
West raced Dragon Boats for 15 years, traveling to many other countries for competitions. In 2013, at age 76, she competed with Team USA's senior Dragon Boat racing team against teams from 33 countries in Hungary. Her team earned four bronze medals, finishing just behind Canada and Australia in three women's events and the mixed 500.
Her final race was in the summer of 2016 when her team competed in Burlington, Vermont, during Breast Cancer Survivor Week. "The challenge that I face now," she told us at the time, "is how to stay active, despite having mobility issues. I think that is a universal problem for many seniors, but there are lots of activities at Cathedral Village that I can participate in, like the Environmental Justice Committee. We are trying to promote recycling in all aspects of daily life. I may not be able to paddle a Dragon Boat anymore or walk as fast as I once did, but I am still feisty."
West is survived by three children.
Sue Ann Rybak contributed to this article. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.
