Sarah Gay Huse

Sarah Gay Huse (Sally) was born in Bryn Mawr, PA, the second of three daughters, to Herbert Willard Huse and Eunice Stanley Huse. She spent her entire childhood in Swarthmore, PA, where she graduated from Swarthmore High School, class of 1959. During long summers at Stanley Farm, in New London, NH, a property owned by the extended family since 1863, now boasting its seventh generation, she, her sisters, and beloved first cousins led an idyllic existence, roaming its eighty acres and swimming in Little Lake Sunapee.

She graduated in 1963 from Beloit College in Wisconsin, where she excelled in mathematics. She later earned an MBA from Boston College, the only female in her classes. She obtained her pilot’s license from Norwood Flying School on April 30, 1971, and took pride in the certificate for her first solo flight.

She had a distinguished career at the John Hancock Life Insurance Co. in Boston for many years before moving to California in 1973, the same year she met her future husband, Hans, at a ski-club dance on November 3 in San Francisco. At that time, she had started working for the Bechtel Power Corp. and advanced to the position of senior financial manager. Sally enjoyed a very successful career there at a time when there were few women in the financial field.

Sally and Hans bought their home in Marin County, Paradise Cay, in the first year of their relationship and purchased their beloved sailboat, The Helgoland, in 1980. They joined the Corinthian Yacht Club in 1974 and have been active members ever since. Sally notably started a program of cruising to other nearby yacht clubs. These cruises became very popular among CYC’s membership, sometimes including up to 20 boats, and the project continued until members of the CYC had visited every yacht club in the San Francisco Bay. Sally was known in the club as the Flag Mother. She had a collection of 300 flags with extensive knowledge of each, and was eager to share this information with other yacht club members. The Helgoland was decorated with hundreds of flags every year for Opening Day at the club and for other holidays like Fourth of July, setting the standard for other club members and boat owners to emulate. The CYC has lost a great sailor.

Sally and Hans visited a total of 19 tall ships across the world, and through friends from the club they discovered the Royal Clipper, a five-masted sailing ship on which they sailed 12 times in total. All of their trips took place in the wintertime and many of them coinciding with Sally’s January birthday. They had great relationships with the officers, the captain, and the crew and the ship became another compelling thread in the narrative of their love of boats, sailing, and friends.

Stanley Farm in New London, NH, remained very close to Sally’s heart for her entire adult life, She and Hans were married there in July 1977 and she made annual visits both with and without him until her later years. She loved being a steward of the property she shared with her sisters, and was generous about providing for its upkeep and maintenance.

Sally and Hans both loved classical music and it played in their house almost all of the time as a backdrop to their busy social lives. She played the flute and piano as a child and was tremendously proud of the several talented and professional musicians who emerged in her extended family. Sally and Hans both held an abiding interest in opera and visited the San Francisco Opera House many times.

Sally passed away peacefully at home in her sleep on March 20, 2026, after an illness. She is survived by her beloved husband of 53 years, Hans J. Roeben; her sisters Mary Jane (Molly) Johnson of Oberlin, OH, and Julie H. Estes of Prattville, AL; a nephew and niece, four grandnephews, and many dear cousins and friends from coast to coast.

A celebration of her life will be held at a later date at the Corinthian Yacht Club.