Sarita Joy Munsey

Sarita Joy Munsey, 34, of Lancaster, Ohio, lost her long fight with rare cancers March 6, 2024, and went home to be with our Lord, at the Fairhope Hospice & Palliative Care’s Pickering House. She was born June 18, 1989, in Rome, Georgia, the daughter of Mikel W. and Lila (Post) Munsey.

She was preceded in death by beloved grandparents Pearl V. and Bernard R. Post, of Rayland, Ohio and Claude Munsey and Ruby (Hopkins) Munsey Clear of VA; Great Uncles Jay Cunningham and Bob Keith of WV; Uncle Fred Munsey, Aunt Dona Jean (Munsey) Bain, and Aunt Janet (Munsey) Schrader all of VA; and Cousin Tracy Steele of Pearisburg, VA.

A 2008 graduate of Fort Hayes Alternative Arts High School and Columbus Technical College Masonry Program, both in Columbus, Ohio, and a Dean’s List student at Bluegrass Technical College in Kentucky. Following graduation, Sarita worked for an auditing firm and Amazon in Ohio, a cleaning company in Frankfort, KY, and several other places during her short life. A baptized member of the East Columbus Christian Church, she was active in youth group, sang during service, and packed & delivered food baskets for the poor. She was a 12-year member of Girl Scout Troop #2333 that met weekly at the church. She loved playing sports and when she got bored with girls’ sports, tried out and was accepted to a boys’ baseball team.

Sarita was an artist and saw the world through an artist’s eye, greatly enjoying music, painting, working with stained & blown glass, sculpting, gardening, designing, wood sculpting, crafting, sewing, crocheting, experimenting with new art mediums, inventing art from recycled objects, journaling, writing poetry & songs, singing, and playing piano & violin. The house is adorned with her various artworks, as well as others’ art that she loved, including Precious Moments figurines and SnailTrail sculptures from Ireland.

She was an animal lover with a Red-eared Slider turtle, fish, hamsters, cats, lop-eared

rabbits Sugar Snow, Satin, Honey & Cinnamon, Ellie a Golden Lab drop-off that showed up half-dead & starving, and any other animal she encountered. She loved working with horses.

Being initially diagnosed with Duodenal Adenocarcinoma, stage IV, grade terminal in 2020, a rare cancer for which they have no known treatments, under the name of Sari Joy, she created a website to help others with rare cancers. She abhorred that rare cancer sufferers were largely overlooked because it is not good economics. Very little research is performed on rare cancers due to the few it attacks, even though it is almost always fatal. She researched anything she was asked and provided answers when she could find them. She fought and survived much longer than any of the doctors expected.

She will be greatly missed by her parents, her 4-pawed children Sassafras her Shih Tzu and Shadow her Shih Poo rescue dog, aunts and uncles Pat Fisher, Myra Saunders, Myra (Andy) Post, Dona (Bob) Omaits, Earl (Debbie) Post and many cousins, friends, and relatives. The world is a little darker without her smile and “can do” attitude. Her dog Shadow, always at her side,

deeply mourns her passing, as do many who knew her.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at Mount Carmel United Church of Christ, 7205 Clearport Road SW, Lancaster, OH March 23, 2024, at 1:00 pm with Rev. Dr. Marilin Miller officiating. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the American Cancer Society for Rare Cancers, a cause in which she believed. Her favorite saying was from the Grinch: “Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more” and so did her short life.