Sara Annette West

Sara Annette (Tallman) West, 70, of Newton, Iowa, passed away on September 24th, 2025, at Newton Village in Newton, Iowa, surrounded by the immense love she had known as she was living.

Visitation and Funeral service will be held at Pence ~ Reese Funeral Home in Newton, Iowa on Sunday, October 5th. Visitation with the family will be held from 1:30-2:30 with the funeral to directly follow. A Facebook Live broadcast will begin at 2:30 p.m. on the Funeral Home Facebook page. Burial will follow at Arni Memorial Cemetery, in Lancaster Missouri the next day, Monday, October 6th at 3:00 p.m. A celebration of life will be held at Whippoorwill in Lancaster, Missouri directly following until 6:00 p.m. Pence ~ Reese Funeral Home will be handling the funeral arrangements.

Sara Annette Tallman was born in Centerville, Iowa to Bryce and Martha Tallman on May 19th, 1955. She went to high school at Lancaster High School in Lancaster, Missouri and graduated in 1973. She went on to attend one year Northeast Missouri State (Truman State) in Kirksville, Missouri. At the age of 19 on August 17, 1974, in Lancaster, Missouri, Annette was united in marriage with James Douglas West, the love of her life.

Throughout her life, Annette had many careers, she worked as a professional florist in Kirksville, Missouri, at the Belmond Independent and was the Advertising Manager at the Newton Daily News, she worked as the Executive Director of the Newton Chamber of Commerce, Activity Director at The Newton Village, the Events Coordinator at the Des Moines Area Community College, various roles at the Maytag Dairy Farm and owned an LLC, Consider It Done. Aside from the various professional roles that Annette held, she volunteered throughout her entire life. She was active in Girls Scouts of America as a troop leader and supporter, was part of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, belonged to the Rotary Club, and RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) to name a few. She received many accolades in life, but was particularly proud of her Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow Award. Annette was many things, to many people and was ever present in the lives of those she loved. To know her was to know warmth and kindness.

Annette is survived by her two daughters, Angela (Jennifer Hartman) West of Earlham, Iowa and Martha (Cory) Bertsch of St. Joseph, Michigan; seven grandchildren: Sara and Christian Carolan, Jameson and Arabella Bertsch, Joshua (Kaylie) Turnbull, Jocelyn (Jaron) Mumm and Jobe Turnball. Her siblings, Marcia (Stanley) Martin of Lancaster, MO; Curtis (Cindy) Tallman of Lancaster, MO; Patrick (Joanna) Tallman of Lancaster, MO; Henry (Julie) Cook of Stoutsville, MO and Beth Ann (Matt) Haley of Lancaster, MO; Charles (Sonia) Cook of Downing, MO; brother in-law John (Judy) West of Lancaster, MO; and sister in-law, Kathy (Ronnie) Miller of Lancaster, MO. One of Annette’s favorites titles in life was Auntie Nette, she was survived by 8 nephews and 15 nieces, many great nieces and nephews, cousins and many friends who had become family.

Annette is preceded in death by her husband, James West (2011) mother, Martha Tallman (1970) her father, Bryce (2023) and mother, Ann Tallman (2019), father-in-law and mother in-law, Bennett and Betty West (2018) her brother, Everett Tallman (1997).

Angela and Martha wish to extend their gratitude to all the friends and family that supported Annette through her 5 year battle with cancer. Your support was felt by Annette and was a great motivator for her to continue to show such strength. They would also like to thank the staff at The Infusion and Oncology Center at MercyOne Newton Medical Center and Newton Village Long-Term Care facility.

Memorial donations may be made to Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa at https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E6494&id=133.