Obituary of Beatrice Sagotsky

Beatrice Sagotsky, 97, of Freehold passed away quietly at home from natural causes with her loved ones by her bedside on April 6, 2009. She was a brave and strong woman who helped everyone and asked nothing from anyone. Beatrice was born on March 27, 1912 on a small farm on the Freehold-Hightstown Road. She was one of eight children. She sold puppies at a roadside stand on what is now Route 33 and attracted business from passing cars with a trained monkey. (She had no idea in later years where she got the monkey.) They raised chickens and cattle and grew their own fruit and vegetables. The family was entirely self sufficient and was barely effected by the Great Depression of the 1930’s. She went to elementary school in a one room schoolhouse in the woods where the teacher, a local minister, taught all grades through eighth in the same room. She went to Hightstown High School and graduated in 1930 as the class valedictorian. She could not afford to go to college and was self-educated. She was an accomplished poet and it was during her high school years her first book of poetry was published. In 1941 she married the great love of her life Samuel S. Sagotsky, a Harvard educated Freehold attorney. She published a second book in 1956, a self help book educating people to the dangers of dying without a will. When her husband told her he was primarily interested in practicing law, raising their family, and playing golf, she took over the family investments and demonstrated a remarkable talent for investing in the stock market and real estate. She shunned public attention, sought no credit for her accomplishments, and always lived beneath her means. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her. She was predeceased by her parents, five siblings, and her husband. She is survived by her son Ronald Sage and his wife, Marietta of Manasquan; her son, Robert Sage, Greenville, N.C. , four grandchildren, Jacob Sage and Russell Sage, Manasquan, Leah Kasser and her husband, Alan, Bellaire, Texas, Matthew Sage and his wife Karin, Toms River, and her three great grandchildren, Hannah and Jenna Jarnigen, and Samuel Kasser, all of Bellaire, Texas. Beatrice was buried next to her beloved husband on April 7, 2009 at the Hebrew Benefit Society Cemetery, Freehold. Higgins Memorial Home, Freehold was in charge of arrangements.