Sally was born to Jack and Mary (Wilson) Carter on July 29, 1941 in St. Paul, MN. She spent her first year living in a cabin at the St. Croix Falls State Park. Her Dad worked for the National Park Service and was in charge of the building of the park. In 1942, the family moved to Arpin, WI where they purchased a hardware store. The family lived in an apartment above the store. She attended elementary school in Arpin and was bussed to nearby Auburndale, WI for high school. After high school, Sally’s first job was helping in the family hardware store. At 19 she felt she ‘needed to make a change’ and got a job at a clothing store in Marshfield, WI called the Three Sisters where she made some great friends and often went out after work.

It was during one of these after work gatherings that she met the love of her life, George Sparages. Sally was out at ‘The Pit’ bar with a coworker where, as she put it, “A handsome man came up to me and asked me out to a movie.” She often talked about how sharp George dressed and how he stole her heart. George was traveling to install gas pipelines, so they often wrote letters and shared phone calls where George would go to the corner store and use the payphone. Sally still has the letters that they wrote back and forth which also included many one-dollar bills from their bets on the Green Bay Packers. Sally usually came out the winner. After their marriage in December 1962, the couple lived in Philadelphia, PA. Their only daughter, Susan, was born in 1963, and the couple moved to Amery, WI in 1964 where they built their home in 1967. Sally enjoyed staying home and taking care of their daughter and the house. She was a fabulous cook and learned to make many of George’s favorite Greek recipes. Sally and George loved to travel and often just got in the car and drove. They enjoyed going to Rockport, TX during the cold winter months. The beach was always calling and was a favorite destination. Sally and George also traveled to Nebraska often to visit Susan and her family. They spent many summers attending their grandchildren’s dance recitals, athletic events, and band concerts.

After George’s passing in 2020, Sally continued to live in their home in Amery until her cancer diagnosis in August 2024. At that time, she moved to Norfolk, Nebraska to be with her daughter, Susan, and her family. Her treatments there bought her almost another year of time and the family enjoyed having her there to be a part of their everyday lives. Sally passed peacefully in Nebraska on July 8, 2025.

Sally is survived by her daughter, Susan and husband Bill Westcott; her grandson, Brendan Westcott and his wife DeeAnna of Kearney, NE; and granddaughter, Kaitlyn Merchant and her husband Cody of Norfolk, NE. She was also blessed with 4 great-granddaughters, Harper and Laney Westcott and Kinsley and Vallie Merchant. Sally is also survived by her brother, Clayton Carter of Prior Lake, MN and many nieces and nephews and their families. She was preceded in death by her husband, George and her parents.

A visitation will be held on Saturday, July 26, 2025 from 3:30 to 5:00 pm at the Williamson-White Funeral Home in Amery, WI. Interment will be at Fort Snelling Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN at a later date.

Last Update: Jul 18, 2025 7:15 am CDT