Sarah Ann Butt Gordon

PENSACOLA, FL: Sarah Ann Gordon, 70, died sometime the week of March 22, 2015 at her summer home in Pensacola, Florida, under treatment for pneumonia.

Sarah was born on July 30, 1944 in Ross County, Ohio. She was orphaned at age 6 and was adopted by James and Virginia Butt, Chillicothe, Ohio. Sarah attended Chillicothe High School until adolescence when she was enrolled at Laurel School, Shaker Heights, Ohio. Subsequently, she achieved a bachelor's degree at the University of Washington, Seattle followed by a Master and PhD in history at the University of Rochester, New York.

She undertook research in German history of the 30's and 40's in the German archives resulting in a book published by Princeton University Press in 1984: Hitler, Germans, and the "Jewish Question". Her book was acknowledged as opening a poorly understood era of the existence of a heroic few Germans opposing Hitler's persecution of the Jews in Germany and elsewhere. Subsequently, she achieved a faculty position in history at Pace University, New York City.

Sarah was married and divorced, first to Kenneth Barbeck and later to Donald Gordon, a well-known economist. As a consequence of her interest in German history and her fluency in German, she chose to lead an expatriate life in Bavaria, first in Munich, as a proprietor of a jewelry store and later, after a significant change in German tax law for expatriates, she moved to Tutzing, Bavaria abandoning her jewelry store. She then reestablished residence in the United States, settling in Nashville, Tennessee, near her former step-son, David Gordon.

She is survived by her brothers, James II, (Miriam), Stephen; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her father, James; mother, Virginia; as well as a nephew, Jameson Hatherly.

Condolences can be directed to the family at the WARE FUNERAL HOME 121 W. 2nd Street Chillicothe, Ohio 45601. Memorial gifts may be submitted to a Humane Society of one's choice.

Graveside services were held on Saturday morning, April 11, 2015 in Greenlawn Cemetery, Portsmouth, Ohio. There was no visitation at Sarah's request. Arrangements are under the direction of the WARE FUNERAL HOME.