Sara Ann Delano Roosevelt (September 21, 1854 – September 7, 1941) was the 2nd wife of James Roosevelt, Sr. (from 1880), and the mother of President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt, her only child.

 

Childhood

She was born at the Delano Estate in the Town of Newburgh, New York to Warren Delano and Catherine Robbins Lyman. She had ten siblings, two of whom died as small children. Three more died in their twenties.

 

In 1862, Sallie (which is what Sara was often called during her childhood), her mother Catherine, and six brothers and sisters traveled to China on the clipper ship Surprise. On board ship, Sallie enjoyed spending time in the sailmaker's loft listening to the sailmaker tell sea stories. Her brother Freddiscovered Catherine's journal of the voyage many years later, in 1928.

 

Sara Delano was described as a slender 5'10" (178 cm), and an intelligent debutante beauty in her youth.

 

FDR's election and presidency

She lived to see her only child elected President of the United States three times. His first election took place about thirteen years after theNineteenth Amendment was ratified, and Sara became the first Presidential mother to vote for her son. Sara continued to support her son's career, even standing in as First Lady on several occasions. She was always prepared to say something positive about her son, and remained highly protective of him and his family.

 

Death

Sara Delano Roosevelt, with the President at her side, died suddenly on September 7, 1941, 230 days after her son's third inauguration as President, exactly three months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and two weeks before her 87th birthday."Minutes after her death, the largest oak tree at Hyde Park toppled to the ground. It was a clear windless day." (Quoted from; The American Experience: FDR (Part IV; "The Juggler" 1940-1945) (1994), Written & Directed by David Grubin).

 

The funeral was held at her home in Springwood, which is located in Hyde Park, New York. Her memory is commemorated with the Sara Delano Roosevelt Park in New York City's Lower East Side, which was dedicated during her lifetime, in 1934.