Sara Weymouth Brumfield Polk

Sara Snowden Weymouth Brumfield Polk, 88, of Darlington, died at Citizens Care Center, Havre de Grace, on January 14, from complications of Parkinson’s disease.

Born in Baltimore on September 7, 1916, she was the daughter of Harrison Weymouth and Sara English Snowden Weymouth. She attended Calvert School and The Bryn Mawr School and went on to graduate from The Maryland Institute of Art in 1939. It was there that she met the aspiring sculptor Richard S. Brumfield, whom she married in 1941. During WWII, they both worked for the war effort at MIT in Cambridge, Mass.

After the war, they returned to Maryland, settling in Van Bibber, Harford County, where they built a modest house and studio in the woods. Sara’s interest in independent education had begun before the war when she taught at Calvert School, and her dream was to start an independent school of high academic standards in Harford County. That dream was realized in 1957, the year she co-founded The Harford Day School. At that time, the school was located on Hays Street in Bel Air and had only thirty students. Not only was she the Head Mistress, but she also managed a full teaching load. She served as Head Mistress until her retirement in 1975, by which time the school had built new facilities on Moores Mill Road and had grown to 197 students. Until her death, she was trustee emeriti on the Harford Day School Board .The Sara Brumfield Award is given each year to the student who best exemplifies the spirit of Harford Day.

In 1997, in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the School, Sara was the recipient of The Harford County Living Treasure Award.

Upon her retirement, she became a docent at the Baltimore Museum of Art, an active member of her book club, and a more avid gardener than ever. Though she traveled whenever the opportunity arose, she relished her life on the small farm in Darlington, which she and Richard purchased in 1971. She loved to entertain and was a great and resourceful hostess for her large group of friends and an ever growing family. The family came to include the children of Col. John E. Rossell, whom she married in 1983, 3 years after Richard’s death, and continued to grow after Col. Rossell’s death with her marriage to Col. John F. Polk in 1990.

Sara Polk is survived by her brother Harrison Weymouth Jr. of Fort Meyers, Florida; two sons, Woody Brumfield of Darlington, Md., and Joshua Brumfield of New Park, Pa; four grandchildren, Tyson Brumfield of Hockessin, DE, Mollie Smiley of Urbana, VA, Andrew Brumfield of Baltimore, and Olivia Brumfield of Sweet Brier, VA; a great grandson, Corbin Brumfield of Hockessin, DE; and 10 stepchildren and their children and grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Harford Day School, 715 Moores Mill Rd., Bel Air, MD 21014 or to The American Parkinson Disease Association, 1250 Hylan Blvd., Suite 4B, Staten Island, NY 10305.