In Memoriam: Sara Faulkner, MD (1950 - Oct. 18, 2022)

Surrounded by family, Sara Ellen Faulkner moved on to "whatever is next" (her words) on October 18, 2022 at 3:12 p.m. There will be a Celebration of Life at Kiana Lodge in Suquamish, Washington on July 27, 2023 from 1 to 5 p.m.

Sara was born at the Mayo Clinic in 1950, bringing with her a sparkling personality, red hair, and freckles. She contracted polio as a toddler and underwent prolonged hospital stays and operations. Sara was hospitalized for a full year when she was 18-20 months old, spending endless hours in a hospital crib, chewing on the leaded paint. She said, "all the kids did that. We were bored and restless — and it tasted good!"

Husband, Michael, told Sara it might have been a good thing that she had polio. He reasoned that she was beautiful, smart, privileged, and that if she didn't have polio she might have really been a "royal pain." She thought that was funny but she never felt victimized by her polio or anything else. She spent zero time feeling sorry for herself.

After college (Hollins), medical school (Rush), and Residency (UC Davis), Sara joined Group Health. She worked at Eastside Primary Care, Silverdale, Bainbridge, and Poulsbo medical centers. Patients and colleagues loved Sara, as she truly embodied "care and caring." Sara also had a tremendous passion for travel to exotic places which she shared with Michael.

The couple met when Michael was a third-year medical student and Sara was a resident at UC Davis. They move fast in their relationship as Michael was in London for his last two rotations of his fourth year and Sara, post-internship, was working as a jail doctor. They planned that Sara would fly to Heathrow Airport on a particular day, but Michael didn't know what airline, flight number, or her arrival time. He went to the airport, climbed into the rafters, and found a vantage point where he could see every international passenger from each incoming flight. He waited thirteen hours until Sara finally arrived. Later, they were married in cut-offs and tennis shoes by a Justice of the Peace in Thailand.

Sara and Michael became the first people on the West Coast to share a residency. During that time, their first child, Nick, was born. Whoever wasn’t in residency at any time would take Nick to the clinic Sara had found fifteen miles north of Sacramento. Upon arrival, Nick would offer "Johnny Jump Up" (hopping) greetings to patients in the hallway.

When Nick was four, he had his first bout of Guillain-Barre and needed to be intubated. Sara calmly told four-year-old Nick that his body needed help breathing and that ‘Dr. Anne’ would put a straw into Nick's mouth connected to R2D2 (the robot from Star Wars) who would help until his body could breathe on its own. Michael's tears turned to feeling blessed that this strong and wise woman was the mother of their children.

Sara left practice early, related to post-polio syndrome, and worked in the Medical Director's Office creating the Practice and Leadership Development department. Sara coached clinicians; built curricula; and taught about communication, burn-out, leadership, and many other topics. The department grew and helped support our entire clinical and leadership staff.

Sara loved her patients and the staff she worked with, but her real passion was her children, Nick and Kris, and grandkids, Ben and Boone. The family went twice to practice medicine on the island of Barbuda, about thirty miles north of Antigua in the Caribbean. At the time, Barbuda had 1500 inhabitants, all descended from a slave colony. The British had set up a medical clinic staffed by locals, except that the doctor would be "imported," and some of the time, it was a Group Health doctor doing this work.

Sara's family would fly to Antigua and spend the night at the Lord Nelson Hotel before going to Barbuda the next day. One night at the hotel, they heard loud, rhythmic Caribbean dance music from a mile or so down the beach. Sara started dancing down the beach toward the music and said "let's take the kids and go find the music." They all danced down the beach and, after twenty minutes, ended up in a small structure with a large outside area where a hundred locals were dancing. About half had standard wedding attire and the other half were seemingly Rasta men and women with festive clothing. Sara walked right in and the kids and Michael followed. The crowd funneled them to a dinner table where the bride and groom were having traditional wedding goat stew. They asked who their unexpected guests were and they thanked us for coming and asked us to stay. We danced the night away after having goat stew!

Sara has been referred to by some of her friends as "light and love" and, when discussing her most prominent qualities, curiosity and compassion consistently come up. She was adventurous, bright, kind, and full of life and love. Truly a gift for those who knew her. Sara is survived by husband Michael, son Nick, daughter Kristina, and grandchildren, Ben and Boone. We will miss her dearly.

—Michael Soman, MD, Past President and Chief Medical Executive at Group Health Physicians

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