Sarah Zue Sikes

Sarah Layton Sikes, 95, a resident of Luverne, Alabama, passed away on Saturday, August 19th, 2023, while surrounded by her family, at Crenshaw Community Hospital. A celebration of Sarah's life will be held at 3 PM on Sunday, August 27th, at Joquin Baptist Church with Rev. Malcolm Butts and Rev. Frank Lowery guiding the celebration.

Sarah was blessed beyond measure with a gift for flowers. She had a wonderfully artistic eye and talent for flower arranging, which led her to join her local garden club. She developed a special love for daylilies, which led her to join the American Hemerocallis Society. This is where Sarah's gifted green thumb truly shined! She became a well-known hybridizer of daylilies, combining different varieties of these beautiful flowers to create something new and extraordinary. She and her prized flowers appeared in not only local and state newspapers, but also regional and national magazines and on TV. Her creations won a multitude of awards from AHS, and she continued to be active in the society for many years. The Sarah Sikes Sequence Award was created by AHS and named for her, in honor of both her talent and her long-time commitment to the Society. She served in the local Region 14 and National level offices, and worked with daylily programs in over 21 states. You can bet if there was an AHS Region 14 meeting nearby, Sarah and her husband, HB, would wind up hosting a couple of busloads of travelers for a garden tour, along with a fine lunch and ice cold Country Time Lemonade.

The beauty Sarah painstakingly created continues to bloom in gardens all over the United States and several other countries. She also donated many of her daylilies to botanical gardens and other public display gardens across the country from Alabama to California. Sarah was also a dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother who loved nothing more than the time she spent with family and beloved friends. Her home was always open to the people she loved, as well as those they loved, like the dear friends of her children. She was a longtime member of Joquin Baptist Church and spent much of her time nurturing the children there through her Sunday school and VBS classes. Whether it be the physical beauty she created through her stunning flowers, or the spiritual love she blossomed in those she loved throughout her life, Sarah has left a remarkable legacy behind that will be cherished for many more years to come.

Sarah was preceded in death by her husband, HB Sikes Sr; parents, Boma and Ada Ethel Baggett Layton; siblings, Will H. Layton, Thomas Layton, and Della Seymour; niece, Ronda S. Tuggle; and nephew, Richard S. Seymour. She is survived by her loving children, HB Jr (Suzanne) Sikes, Robert I. Sikes and Thomas L. (Jane) Sikes; grandson, Ben (Casey) Sikes; nieces, Daphne S. (Michael) Worley and Dr. Rebecca L. (Neil) Simmons; nephews, Thomas Layton and Will (Angie) Layton; and a host of great-nieces and great-nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the American Heart Association, the Montgomery Cancer Wellness Foundation, or one's favorite charity.