Sarah Walker Salter, 83: Was known as the "clothes fairy"

"She not only sewed for us," said her daughter, Dr. Susan S. McCullough-Byars of Smyrna. "She sewed for other people, too. She always wanted to pitch in and do things."

When her daughter, Darby Terry of Houston, Texas, got married in 1976, Mrs. Salter sewed the wedding dress. She was still crocheting until a year ago.

"I think she was self-taught," her daughter said, "and she always did a fantastic job."

On Feb. 2, Sarah Walker Salter died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at Tranquility Hospice in Austell. She was 83. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Cremation Society of the South is in charge of arrangements.

In 1926, Mrs. Salter was born in Bremen, one of four children. There, she and her husband were high school sweethearts. Mr. Salter served in the Navy during World War II. After his military service, the couple moved to metro Atlanta, settling in DeKalb County in 1946.

When the girls were 12 or so, Mrs. Salter started work as a payroll supervisor for the U.S. Census Bureau, a job she held more than 30 years. When she retired, she joined the Georgia Power Ambassadors, a group for retired company employees and their spouses. Mr. Salter had been a line supervisor for the power company.

The couple volunteered to help run Georgia Power blood drives and to staff the Mary Ann Manley House, a house built by Georgia Power and the Atlanta Medical Center so relatives of hospital patients could have a place to stay.

In 2007, Mrs. Salter and her husband were rear-ended near their home in Dallas. She suffered a broken neck and two hematomas to the brain.

"She survived," her daughter said, "and came out just about as strong afterward. She had full motor control and her mental and emotional capacities. It was amazing."

For the last two years, the Salters had lived in a cottage at Presbyterian Village, an independent living facility in Austell. Mr. Salter suffers from dementia. Recently relatives had considered moving him to a specialized facility, but they knew his wife wouldn't hear of it.

"The guilt she would feel for not taking care of him would mitigate the potential good of  moving him," her daughter said. "She knew where her priorities were. She lived by an old code."

And because of that, the family plans to hold a memorial for Mrs. Salter at Presbyterian Village on March 4, her wedding anniversary.

Survivors other than her husband and two daughters include a sister, Shirley Mullins of McDonough; a brother Bill Walker of Bremen; 4 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.