Sarah was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil while her parents, Nelson and Lucille, were serving as mission president and matron. Her family then relocated back to East Brunswick, NJ where she lived until she left for college. She grew up in a house full of music and happiness as the 4th of 6 children: Roger, Megan, Carolyn, Sarah, Jeanette, and Steven. All the children played instruments and sang in choirs.
Sarah’s childhood was rich with many experiences, and she took full advantage of all the opportunities afforded her. Sarah was active in the LDS church, and she spent many summers at girls camp. While there, she developed a love of hiking and ended up hiking several large portions of the Appalachian trail.
Sarah grew into a very athletic student in High School and became a very competitive basketball player. She eventually earned a basketball scholarship to a college in Long Island. However, she and her dad had other plans and she eventually enrolled at Brigham Young University. While at BYU, Sarah majored in exercise science and played extramural basketball and volleyball.
Sarah married Pace Nielson, and together they had 3 boys—Thomas, Todd, and Trevor. They moved from Utah to Kentucky to Minnesota, and then settled back in Michigan. While in Michigan, Sarah continued her athletic ways and picked up road biking as a sport and became a certified cycling trainer. She became prolific and ended up competing in several triathlons.
Eventually she and Pace divorced, and Sarah packed up her belongings and her boys and headed out west to live with her parents. She immediately enrolled at BYU to complete her undergraduate degree in Communications Disorders. It was during this time she met and married her current husband, Tracy Scott. Together they worked to finish Sarah’s undergraduate degree and then her Masters in Communications Disorders where she graduated with honors.
Tracy and Sarah blended their families, and they began their journey together with Sarah’s 3 boys and Tracy’s 2 girls. Blending families is always a challenge, but Tracy and Sarah managed to make it work focusing on helping them be happy and loving.
Sarah continued to thrive in her career. She started off as a SLP at Hunter Hollow and made her mark there with patients with whom she still keeps in touch with. Sarah then moved on to Silverado where she was promoted to Director of Rehabilitation. Silverado eventually closed and Sarah moved on to Pointe Meadows and quickly made her mark as head of Speech and Language Pathology.
During her time at Pointe Meadows, Sarah was awarded Alumni of the Year at BYU, and had an article published in the department magazine entitled “This is a Person, Not a Problem.” This became Sarah’s mantra for the remainder of her career.
Sarah worked hard and earned yet another promotion to Director of Rehabilitation at Draper Rehabilitation. She would hold this position until her passing on January 17, 2024. Along the way, Sarah has touched the lives of hundreds of patients and colleagues. She would brighten every room she entered and left a lasting impression on all those who were there. Sarah was one in a million.
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I had the honor of meeting Sarah when she took an orofacial myofunctional course in Boise, Idaho in August, 2022. It was clear from the start just how passionate and caring Sarah was. I truly enjoyed each interaction with her-she will be very missed by our myo community!
Tracy & Family,
I was shocked and heartbroken to hear about Sarah's tragic accident. In 2016 I met the most incredible and caring healthcare professional ever when Sarah provided the SLP services for my sister at Hunter Hollow. What sunshine, love and hope radiated from her at our first meeting! I feel as if I have been a lifelong friend, although I haven't seen her in person since those many weeks she attentively served my sister (and indirectly, me). She always spoke lovingly of her husband, Tracy, and it was obvious that Tracy and her family came first, but the patient was always a close-second.
May the Lord bless you with sweet remembrances of Sarah, and may you be sustained in continuing to live the best life you can, until you can once again be together.
I am heartbroken to hear of Sarah's tragic accident and send my deepest condolences and prayers to all her family, loved ones, colleagues and patients. My sister, Janet Reid, was cared for by Sarah at Point Meadows. Janet had Locked In Syndrome after a series of strokes. Sarah's exceptional expertise and incredible compassion made all the difference in the world for Janet as well as for myself and Janet's loved ones. Sarah was an extraordinary person in every way and I will always miss her. I am forever grateful that Janet and I had the privilege and honour of knowing Sarah.
We send our deepest condolences to Sarah’s family. We knew Sarah a long time ago when her family was living in East Brunswick, NJ. Craig taught her in Sunday school when she was 13 years old and remembered her spunk and friendliness. She will be greatly missed until we all see her again.
We are so sorry and are so glad we got to meet Sarah . We send our condolences and prayers to all the family and friends.