On Friday, January 31, Sarah McCausland, a 2013 New Trier alum, and Evelina Brown, of Seattle, Washington, were killed after being struck by an alleged drunk driver. The two were walking with a group south on route 9G near Bard College, where they were students, according to the Resister-Star newspaper.
Witnesses say Carol Boeck, 63, of Red Hook, was allegedly driving on 9G without her headlights when she drove onto the grass on the south side of the road where McCausland and her friends were walking. After slamming into the group, Boeck fled the scene, but was later arrested. The 63-year-old woman was charged with first-degree manslaughter and a felony count of driving while intoxicated due to a previous DWI conviction in 2005. On Saturday, February 1, Boeck was released on $50,000 bail.
Upon arrival at the scene at 11:50 p.m., Dutchess County sheriff’s deputies pronounced Evelina and Sarah dead.
As news broke of the tragic accident on February 1, Sarah’s personal Facebook page began to flood with messages from friends and family. People posted videos of her and others singing, as well as photos of special moments she shared with friends and family.
Two days later, a Facebook page titled “In Memory of Sarah and Lina” was created to remember both girls. In the album named “Sarah McCausland,” there are 310 photos of Sarah, as of Sunday, February 9, and the page has 1,633 likes and counting.
The memorial page and Sarah’s personal Facebook page did not fill up with messages because she was average or just “nice”. She was an extraordinary girl who was loved by everyone.
At New Trier, Sarah “took acting classes, performed in plays and musicals, was the assistant music director of Lagniappe, played in the orchestra, sang in choirs and was a SILC for Choraliers,” said Sarah’s Choir Opera teacher, David Ladd. She also sang in the ensemble, performed many solos in various shows, and in the spring production of “Sweeny Todd,” she starred as the “Beggar Woman.”
One of the specific choirs she sang in was Swing Choir. During her junior year of high school, she and 2012 New Trier alum Maxine Lapin both got into Swing. Lapin said, “We were both shy and didn’t talk for the first two months, but one day she whispered into my ear, ‘Poop.’ I’ve never become friends with someone faster…she’s someone I feel like I knew my whole life.”
Sarah was involved in theatre even earlier than junior year. During 7th grade in 2008 at the Winnetka Community House, 2013 NT Alum Gabby Jones met Sarah during a production of “Guys and Dolls.” They also perfprmed in “The Wiz” in 2009. “We would constantly goof off together and always get ourselves in trouble. But that’s what made our friendship so special. We didn’t care.” She shared, “We’d do whatever we want, sass whoever we wanted, laugh about whatever crazy idea we thought of, sing whatever song we just made up and constantly be devising some sort of plan to get out of things we didn’t want to do—a true partner in crime.”
Not only was Sarah talented in the theatre, but she was talented with foreign languages. New Trier Spanish teacher Lori Willer had her in Spanish 4 her junior year, and for AP Spanish her senior year. Willer said, “Sarah was a very special student. She was a very talented Spanish student. Her spoken and written Spanish were excellent, and I was proud to write her letter of recommendation for college.”
She added, “Sarah won a Chicago-area prize two years in a row for her high score on the National Spanish Exam. I was the one to personally give her the prize because I am one of the teachers who organizes the awards ceremony, so those were also special moments for me with Sarah.”
Sarah also taught herself Icelandic. “The puzzle of languages and their corresponding cultures, and the experiences of individuals were for her an enticement,” said Sarah’s former Post High School counselor, Deb Donley. “Sarah was deeply invested in other people, their lives and how everyone’s lives intertwined,” she added.
One moment her adviser, Trish Loftus, shared with Sarah was on the mornings she had voice lessons prior to advisery. Loftus said, “Sarah would bring notes for being late. I got to the point when Sarah walked in late we would look at each other and just say ‘voice.’ We both smiled at each other and gave a thumbs up.”
Loftus said she will remember Sarah as “just being a great kid. Sarah always was so honest and never tried to give excuses for things that happened.”
“I want to remember her irrational fear of cold sores, her habit of reading Harry Potter every time she brushes her teeth, her soul-filling voice, her sass-filled looks and her thoughtfulness,” said 2013 NT alum Sally French.
“I would like to remember Sarah as the fun, sassy, loud, obnoxious, crazy, always singing girl that I knew and loved so dearly,” said Jones. “I know she’s looking down on all of us smirking, probably playing a banjo too and that’s all that I could ever ask for—that she’s in a better place.”
Sarah was special to her church, Winnetka Presbyterian Church (WPC), community, too. Senior Pastor David Lower said, “Sarah was a strong woman, comfortable walking to the beat of her own drum, loving to others. She was very bright and very talented.”
He added, “Sarah did not fit the North Shore mold, and did not want to, and being the leader that she is naturally, she led others in our church and in the community in being themselves.”
At WPC, Sarah quickly became good friends with the youth. NT Alum of 2012 and WPC member Grace Olk stated, “Sarah was and always will be my church best friend. There wasn’t a Sunday that didn’t involve us making faces at each other across the aisle during the services. She was the second pea to my pod when it came to church mission trips.”
She added, “I met her on a mission trip to Cuba a few years ago. We bonded over thoroughly examining a dead lizard on the side of the road. Every second of that trip we spent together, and we instantly clicked. Everyone thought we had known each other prior to the trip, but really we had just met.”
Without a doubt, Sarah touched so many lives in her 19 years. She was able to do so because she was a genuine friend to all. “Sarah had a talent of making everyone feel special,” confirmed French. “No two people had the same relationship with her.”
Emily Ashenden was one of Sarah’s best friends, according to Olk. She said, “The unconditional love the two to them had for one another through their duets and everyday friendship was an inspiration.”
Leah Silberman, another of Sarah’s friends, added, “Sarah, to me, was a steady source of love. This tragedy has broken not only me but all of the people who deeply cared about her. It just doesn’t make sense that someone so full of life is no longer with us. She will always be in our hearts and memories as an amazing, smiling, friendly, and talented young woman who brought a smile to every life she touched.”
Such a devastating loss can make it difficult to find the silver lining beneath the pain. Yet, in the case of Sarah, many of her friends and teachers were able to find something good from the tragedy. A friend to Sarah since kindergarten, Taylor Tucker stated, “If you want to remember and honor Sarah, take a lesson form her: be your own person and go after whatever you love.”
Ladd added, “I think it’s important to remember the impact Sarah made on the world around her during the time she was with us. She was a supportive peer, passionate artist and her influence was felt across a broad spectrum of the school population.”
“Sarah’s life, full of potential, showed us what we all can be capable of if we focus on growing, being ourselves, and enjoying others,” Lower said, “For this gift she gave beyond the limits of her life, we can all be grateful.”
“If each of us would just take one small aspect of Sarah’s contributions and apply them to our lives and relationships, her influence would deeply improve our world,” Donley stated.
Last Saturday at Sarah’s memorial service at WPC, there was an intense feeling of love in that building. Every single person that walked through those doors was there because of the love they received from Sarah—and the building was packed. According to the official WPC Facebook page, 800 plus people attended the memorial service and an additional 200 watching the live-steam video online.
During the service, the McCausland family each shared fond memories they had of their eldest daughter, Sarah. It was truly inspiring to see how much strength they radiated to everyone. Andy McCausland’s, Sarah’s father, speech, stated at the service that his daughter had three life mottos: “Always be growing, be yourself and enjoy other people.”
Rest in peace, Sarah. You will be dearly missed by everyone.