Sarah Johnson Pitt

Sarah Johnson Pitt passed away peacefully at home in Houston, Texas on June 30, 2024, a few weeks after her 64th birthday and a day after her 39th wedding anniversary. Sarah was surrounded by her devoted husband, Steve, children, Sarita, Allegra and Stevie, family and friends after a three-year battle with cancer.

Sarah Spohn Kleberg Johnson Pitt was born on June 9, 1960, in Corpus Christi, Texas to Patricia “Patsy” Lewis Zoch and Belton “B” Kleberg Johnson. She was reared on the Chaparrosa Ranch in La Pryor, Texas where she attended St. Philip’s Episcopal School in Uvalde until her family moved to San Antonio in 1974. Sarah attended St. Mary’s Hall and Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia while spending her junior year abroad in Madrid, Spain. She was immensely proud of her family legacy and heritage as a descendent and great-great granddaughter of Captain Richard King, the founder of the King Ranch, on her father’s side and the granddaughter of Frank Peter Zoch, co-founder of Sedco Oil Company, a worldwide drilling company, on her mother’s side.

Sarah was a force of nature while living a full, vibrant, meaningful life surrounded by her loving family and legions of friends. She was so adored across the state of Texas that she made her debut during her early twenties in Corpus Christi, Tyler, Waco and her beloved San Antonio, where she was Queen of Fiesta in 1983. Each reoccurring Springtime, Sarah loved visiting San Antonio for Fiesta festivities while proudly wearing her “Queen Pin”. Sarah went onto work for the Republican National Convention in Dallas and the Reagan Reelection Campaign at the White House in Washington, D.C. While living in Dallas, Sarah met the love of her life, Steve Pitt, through mutual friends and the rest was history. They settled together in Houston where they would proudly raise their three children. As a mother, Sarah always urged her children to spread their wings and praised independence, parenting with the mantra “prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child”. Sarita, Allegra and Stevie are forever grateful.

Fabulous friend, amazing sister, incredible wife, loving mother, adoring grandmother, Sarah was a fighter with a contagious zest for life. She was a vivacious, creative, fashionable woman who cared deeply for those blessed enough to be in her orbit. She had a marvelous eye for interior design and loved collecting art over the years with Steve. No one loved to travel more than Sarah as she always inquired about her family and friends’ vacations with her famous planner and pen in hand! Happiest of times were spent from quail hunting in South Texas to the beaches of the Bahamas to boating trips around Europe filled with excursions enriched in history. Her wanderlust was contagious! She delighted in dancing to Jimmy Buffet on the Port Aransas porch overlooking the Gulf, family traditions, flower arrangements, birthdays (celebrating others or herself - no one loved birthdays more!) and hosting parties with her lovely tablescapes, serving her favorite key lime pie for dessert. An avid reader, Sarah was the most frequent patron of River Oaks Bookstore and held her decades long book club close to her heart. She earnestly instilled a love for reading in her children and grandchildren, always sharing countless books with them at bedtime during their visits. One of her greatest joys in life was being a grandmother to her seven grandchildren who lovingly called her “Chula”.

Sarah was a member of the River Oaks Garden Club, where she thoroughly enjoyed helping with the Azalea Trail and the Pink Elephant over the years. She was also a member of the Argyle Club, San Antonio Country Club and Bayou Club, chairing the entertainment committee. She served on the advisory council for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin, the boards of the King Ranch Family Trust and the San Jacinto Museum and Battlefield. She was also an avid supporter of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Preceded in death by her parents, Patricia Lewis Zoch and Belton Kleberg Johnson; her brother Belton Kleberg “Kley” Johnson, Jr. and nephew, Harry Bennet McMurrey. She is survived and immensely loved by her husband of 39 years, Stephen McCarthy Pitt; her daughter Sarita and husband Jake Francis; her daughter Allegra and husband Hunter Hawkins; her son Stephen McCarthy Pitt, Jr; grandchildren Sita, Nelson, Peter, and Beatrice Francis; Johnny, Scotty, and Patsy Hawkins; her sister Ceci McBride and husband Fred; her sister-in-law Cecilia Hager and husband George; nieces and nephews Alice Adair and husband Nick, Henry Kley Johnson, Belton McMurrey and Estella McMurrey and grand-nieces Lulu Adair and Sarah Kley Adair who all lovingly called her “Aunt Tita”. Sarah is also survived by her extended family of aunts and cousins that she loved dearly.

Friends and family are invited to gather for a memorial service in honor of Sarah at The Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks Boulevard, Houston, TX 77019 at eleven o’clock in the morning on Thursday, July 11th. The family cordially invites attendees to a reception following the service at a location to be announced at the church. In honor of Sarah’s love for spring and summer, please wear her favorite colors. The service will be live streamed. Information on live streaming will be available on the Bradshaw-Carter website.

The family would like to give special thanks to Maria Ramirez and Thelma Vargas who have loved and cared for the Pitt Family for over 32 years. The family would also like to extend their sincere gratitude to Dr. James Muntz, Dr. Alberto Barroso, Dr. Yuval Raizen, Dr. Wade Rosenberg and Corey Meisenbach, and Dr. Michael J. Snyder and the countless unbelievable nurses of Walter Tower at Houston Methodist Hospital.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions be directed towards the King Ranch Family Trust serving South Texas charities, P.O. Box 1418, Kingsville, TX 78364; San Jacinto Museum and Battlefield Association, One Monument Circle, La Porte, TX 77571; St. John the Divine Church, 2450 River Oaks Blvd, Houston, TX 77019; and St. Philip’s Episcopal School, 343 North Getty Street, Uvalde, TX 78801.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” Timothy 4:7.