Sally Eklund wearing one of her original creations, circa 1980
Born in April 1937, Sarah “Sally“ West grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. In the early 1960s, she and her first husband moved to the southeastern part of the state where they raised three children. An accomplished artist who created hundreds of quilts and original artworks in the textile medium, she was first known as Sally Snow in her professional life.
After remarrying in the 1980s, Sally Eklund continued living and working in New England with her second husband and life companion, relocating to the Caribbean permanently in the 1990s. Throughout her life, she enjoyed spending time with family, reading, cooking, gardening, singing, and playing folk songs on the auto harp. She also was a faithful caretaker of a series of beloved dogs.
As friends and family are scattered across the far ends of the world, an online selection of photos from the life of Sally Eklund has been compiled below in lieu of a formal obituary or service. And in the joyful, celebratory spirit of a New Orleans-style funeral, a favorite song from The Carter Family, featuring “Mother” Maybelle Carter, is included below.
To a full life lead with energy, passion, and, as stated in a final conversation, “without regret.”
A gallery of photos from the life of Sally Eklund, 1937-2015
with fraternal twin George in 1937
parents George and Bernice West in Essex, Massachusetts in 1933
with brother George in 1938
Nancy, George, and Sally in 1939
the West kids, George, Sally, Martha, and Nancy, around 1940 or 1941
parents Bernice and George in the summer of 1941
Martha, Nancy, Sally, and George in the early 1940s
mother Bernice with George, Nancy, Sally, and Martha about 1944
four West kids in the early 1940s: Nancy, Martha, Sally, and George
school picture in 1947
her father, a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox, in the summer of 1949
with sister Martha in the summer of 1949
Sally in 1950
with her sister around 1952
high school in 1953
on ski trip to New Hampshire in 1954
with a a classmate in the mid-1950s
with male friend in class shot from around 1954
with friend Nan around 1954
high school picture from around 1954-1955
with first husband, brother-in-law, and his wife in 1960s
with husband in 1964
shortly after adopting first child in late 1964
with husband, first child, and family Basset Hound in 1965
with daughter, sister-in-law of husband’s older brother and her three children, and older son in mid-1960s
on farm in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts in the mid-1960s
with daughter around 1966
birthday party in 1966
with older son around 1968
with two oldest children in late 1960s
with oldest two children and dog in the late 1960s
with two oldest kids and companion of husband’s youngest brother and her daughters in the early 1970s
family Halloween in the early 1970s
Sally and the children in the early 1970s
Sally with her three children
with daughter in the 1970s
Sally’s three children eating lunch at grandma’s house with her younger sister’s children in the mid 1970s
opening gifts with daughter in the 1970s
with younger son, daughter, husband, and friends in the mid-1970s
family meal around 1977
with youngest two children, mother-in-law and some family pets in the late 1970s
with auto harp at Southeastern Massachusetts University (now UMass Dartmouth) in the 1980s
with goat on farm in Myricks in the 1980s or so
with oldest child on visit in the mid-1980s
with husband Karl on farm in the 1980s
with husband, youngest two children, and pet goats in the 1980s
in the kitchen sometime around the 1980s
younger son, mother Bernice, daughter, and Sally in the 1980s
with youngest two children, mother-in-law, and family friend in the 1980s
at work around the 1980s or so
Sally in the 1980s
with her sister-in-law Marge in the 1980s or so
with husband around the late 1980s
with three children and mother-in-law in the early 1990s
with Philip, Penny, and family in the Caribbean in the late 1990s
with husband in 2001
in the kitchen in 2006
besides clothing, Sally also made jewelry and various food products
with daughter-in-law in Georgetown in 2006
with daughter-in-law, husband at friend Shirley’s hotel-restaurant in 2006
with daughter-in-law in 2006
with husband and daughter-in-law in 2006
with partner in the 2000s
working in the kitchen in 2008
cooking lessons in 2008
making pizza from scratch in 2008
family with Taiwanese ambassador to St. Vincent in 2008
Taiwanese agricultural mission at Orange Hill, St. Vincent in 2008
with members of the Taiwanese community on St. Vincent plus her daughter-in-law preparing for a Lunar New Year feast in 2008
Emily and Philip in 2008
shopping in St. Vincent in 2008
at the Pirates of the Caribbean set in St. Vincent in 2008
with Ben, Shelia, older son, and daughter-in-law on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean in St. Vincent in 2008
with daughter-in-law in the Caribbean in 2008
with family and friends Ann and Paul in 2008
with daughter-in-law at the beach in 2008
working in her Caribbean garden in 2008
with family on the Tobago Cays in the Grenadines in 2008
with husband, older son, and daughter-in-law in 2008
driving in 2009
with daughter-in-law in island garden in 2010
at a birthday party at the Baldwin residence in the 2010s
with Cheryl in 2013
Baldwin, Sally, and husband in 2013
Ann, Sally, Paul, and Karl in 2013
with family in 2013
Sally in 2013
Kelly, Ceana, and Conroy in 2013
Kelly and Ceana with Samson and Paulie in 2013
with husband, daughter-in-law, and older son in 2014
with daughter-in-law and four-legged friend in May 2014
Click photos above to enlarge images.
Click any image below to view slideshow.
sally's quilts 