Sarah Ann Richardson Kuhl

Sarah Ann Richardson Kuhl, 80, of Summerville, SC, passed away on May 9, 2025. She was a retired Kindergarten teacher, who taught hundreds of children to read, sing, and draw during her 27-year career.

Born on January 3, 1945, in Fort Worth, Texas, Sarah was the daughter of the late Arvil Shawn Richardson, a Baptist minister, and the late Cleo Garrison Richardson Pipkin, a church pianist. The birth of her little sisters, Rita Rhea and Keila Kaye, gave her great joy. Her childhood was filled with piano lessons and recitals that imprinted her with a lifetime love of music.

The family moved to Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1949. Sarah graduated from Wichita Falls High School in 1964 and from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls in 1968, with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. She caught the eye of a bookish history student, Paul Kuhl. The singer and the scholar began their 51 year marriage on December 28, 1968.

In 1972, after three years in Carbondale, Illinois, Sarah and Paul established residency in the Winston-Salem, NC, area where they lived for 44 years and raised three children in a house filled with books and music. Sarah and Paul were founding members of Holy Family Catholic Church in Clemmons, NC, where they both sang in the choir and she led the children’s choir.

Sarah taught for decades and incorporated music into every aspect of the day. In 1997, she received a Master of Arts in Elementary Education from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. She retired from the Winston-Salem Forsyth County School District, having taught at South Fork Elementary and Jefferson Elementary and having worked as a team with her longtime aide Dana Haggerson and Pat Way, her dear friend and fellow Kindergarten teacher.

Sarah was a certified Kindermusik teacher and helped establish the Kindermusik program at Salem College in Winston-Salem, which then launched satellite programs all over the state. She taught Kindermusik part-time for many years, introducing young children to a music-based education.

In 2016, after Sarah was diagnosed with short-term memory loss and Paul was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, they moved to Summerville Estates. There Sarah started a weekly sing-a-long group, and an annual Moravian Love Feast. She and Paul joined St. John the Beloved Catholic Church, where she sang in the choir and supported the church’s annual concert series.

In her twilight years, she loved to play piano and visit with grandchildren. Even when speech had left her, she still hummed along to her favorite songs.

Sarah is survived by her three children, Sally Kuhl Hebert (Kurt) of Summerville; Dr. Michelle Kuhl (Jeff Pickron) of Oshkosh, WI; and Philip Edward Kuhl (Alison) of Summerville; two sisters, Dr. Keila Nichols of Richardson, Texas, and Rita Cheek (Randy) of Plano, Texas; and six grandchildren, Clio and Eliza Pickron of Oshkosh, WI, and Andrew Hebert, Bryce Kuhl, Brendan Kuhl and Claire Kuhl, of Summerville, SC.

Additionally, she is survived by four brothers-in-law and their spouses, four sisters-in-law and their spouses; and many nieces and nephews.

A funeral Mass will be held at St. John the Beloved Catholic Church in Summerville, SC, on Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 1pm.