Sarah Heller

Brookfield - Sarah Heller, born Sarah Leone Nye on Bastille Day in 1949 in Center County, Pennsylvania, rested peacefully in her sleep in Boston on February 26, 2025, surrounded by her family.
Her mother, Fern (Drumheller) Nye, was a biologist, and her father, Edwin Nye, was a mechanical engineer who taught at Penn State University beginning in 1947 and later at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Sarah studied in the public schools of Bloomfield, Connecticut, and the MacDuffie School in Springfield, Massachusetts. She attended Stetson University in Deland, Florida, where she met her future husband, Rudy Heller, from Cali, Colombia.
Married in 1969 on September 27, Sarah and Rudy lived for some years in Colombia, where their two biological children, Lisa and Daniel, were born. They moved to Hartford in 1975, where Sarah took classes at Hartford College for Women, and then to Newton, Massachusetts, where she completed her undergraduate education, graduating summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Sarah and Rudy soon began Spanish/English Services (later renamed Heller Language Solutions), which specialized in both written translations and simultaneous interpreting for a wide variety of clients in industry, commerce, and education. Sarah’s superb text and video editing and her desktop publishing skills made their business uniquely successful.
After moving to Brookfield, Massachusetts, Sarah completed her M.A. in Education from Worcester State University, won election for a term to the Tantasqua School Committee, was appointed to two terms to the town Advisory Board, and supported Rudy as he served on the Selectboard for two terms. For many years Sarah was the editor of NETANews, the quarterly newsletter of the New England Translators Association. Politically active, Sarah supported a variety of candidates and causes. She was passionate about the power of grassroots activism and co-founded Indivisible Brookfield in 2016, which later grew into the organization Grassroots Central Mass. She was a life-long advocate of campaign finance reform, organic food, and sustainable living.
Sarah also found time to open and staff the TipTop Country Store, next to the Brookfield Town Hall, selling organic groceries and local goods for 20 years. The store is now a co-op and remains a vital meeting point for the community.
Known as a bright, generous, and caring person, Sarah will be missed by the citizens of Brookfield and by friends in Austria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Japan, and Taiwan as well as throughout the United States. She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Rudy; brothers David and Benjamin Nye; children Lisa Heller Boragine and Dan Heller; foster daughter Marla Dininger; and their loving families. These families include five biological grandchildren, Jonathan, Samantha, James, Gianna, and Emily; four foster grandchildren, Alexa, Sophie, Natalie, and Morgan; and foster great-grandson Hunter.
A celebration of Sarah’s life will be held in Brookfield, Massachusetts sometime in July 2025.
In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to the TipTop Co-Op. Donations in Sarah's name will be used to provide discounted memberships and grocery vouchers for low-income Co-Op members. Donations can be dropped off at the store or mailed to TipTop Co-Op, PO Box 397, Brookfield, MA 01506.
Varnum Funeral Home, 43 East Main St., in West Brookfield is assisting her family with arrangements. An online tribute page is available at varnumfuneralhome.com