Sarah "Sally" Clarke Mochel

Sarah “Sally” Clarke Mochel, 65, passed away quietly on May 26, 2021 after battling autoimmune disease for a number of years. She was born in Wilson Borough, PA to Patricia L. Mochel and the late Gordon C. Mochel, and lived in Storrs and Mansfield Center, CT for many years.  She leaves behind her mother, sisters Betsy Mochel, Susan Mochel, and Martha Mochel, nieces Patricia Perozo and Olivia Perozo, and many more loving family members and friends.  

Sally was a graduate of E.O. Smith School in Storrs, and held a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Maine at Orono, where she played flute and piccolo in the marching and concert bands.  She loved music her whole life, while finding her career as the Manager of Accounts Payable at the UConn Co-op bookstore, and then as the Assistant Manager of the successor Barnes & Noble retail bookstore in downtown Storrs, before she retired. 

Sally loved wandering the local farmer’s markets and craft fairs, an icy beverage in hand, getting ideas for crafts and enjoying the time together with her friends and family.  She enjoyed bringing home fresh local tomatoes, herbs, or spicy greens to share.  Sally would turn the ideas she had picked up into hand-painted ornaments and crafts she would surprise us with for the holidays, sometimes teaming up with her Dad for his woodworking skills.  Without fail, there was an appropriate wreath decorating her front door and a candle lit for 9/11.  She also started a family tradition of homemade sticky buns for Christmas morning, which we’ll continue for her in the years to come.  Sally adored the beach, whether the New Jersey beaches of her childhood or beaches near and far as she traveled with friends and family.  Her time in Maine and all the great friends she met there also made her a lifelong fan of Maine and all the things to do there from boating, to snowmobiling, to enjoying the perfect lobster dinner with a warm community of friends.  We will think of her as we continue to enjoy all the things she loved. 

Her family wishes especially to thank the compassionate doctors that supported and cared for her and called her after hours to talk and listen and be a friend.  We also would like to thank the warm and empathetic nurses and staff at Hartford Hospital who helped her in her final days.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, July 1, 2021 at 11:00am at the Storrs Congregational Church, 2 North Eagleville Rd. Storrs.  Burial will be private.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Sally’s memory to Lupus Research Alliance at www.lupusresearch.org/join-us/donate/ or to University of Maine College of Liberal Arts and Sciences/School of Performing Arts/Music at https://umaine.edu/spa/giving/

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