(c) 2009 NPT Photo by Duay O'Neil

Well-known Newport resident Sarah Brabson is shown with two of her great-great-nieces,
Lala Rawls, 2, in front, and Nava Rawls, 4, at a celebration last January in honor of
Brabson's 100th birthday. Mrs. Brabson died Thursday morning at a local hospital.

NEWPORT-One of Cocke County's oldest citizens, Sarah Dawson Brabson, died Thursday at Baptist Hospital of Cocke County at the age of 100.

She was born January 14, 1909 in the Dawson Valley community of Parrottsville, the second oldest of the eight children of Murphy and Dora Mae (Carr) Dawson who lived to maturity.

Only a child herself when her mother died, she was told by her father that she would have to be "mother" to her youngest sister Hessie and the other children.

Married young to Ervin Jackson, she suffered yet another tragic loss when her husband died following a ruptured appendix.

In the mid-1940s, she met a widower James Daughtery Brabson. Both were childless. Their friendship blossomed into love and the two married in 1946.

They moved to a small house on Prospect Street in Newport, next door to her in-laws. Over time, the couple remodeled their home, adding indoor plumbing and more rooms.

In those days, Newport's city limits still encompassed residents who kept livestock. At her 100th birthday party last January, Mrs. Brabson recalled eliminating the pigpens next door when she and her husband purchased that property.

Although the Brabsons remained childless, she became known throughout the community as "Mother Sarah," because of her unbounded love for her nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends, in particular Libby Nichols, now a California resident, and the late Dennis Stewart.

A neighbor and dear friend, Annette Vance, said, "She was just like a mother to me and the entire neighborhood."

She was a devoted member of Macedonia Baptist Church and attended services regularly whenever possible.

Her minister, Rev. Jesse L. Jones, Jr., recalled of his first visit with Mrs. Brabson, "She actually ministered to us, the deacons, and showed herself to be a Genesis mother. She was one who did so much for her community, always giving of herself. She was a gift to Macedonia Baptist Church. We praise God for her."

Although nearly deaf, Mrs. Brabson remained active and mentally alert. She recalled Newport's unpaved streets, women's suffrage, Prohibition, two world wars, the arrival of the first plane in Cocke County, and daily passenger train service from Newport to Knoxville and beyond.

She always kept abreast of current news, enjoying immensely watching the inauguration of America's first African-American President last year.

Funeral arrangements for Mrs. Brabson will be handled by Costner-Maloy Funeral Home.