Sarah Marie Hilda Grulke

Sarah Grulke ObituaryObituary published on Legacy.com by A Natural State Funeral Service & Crematory on Mar. 10, 2026.Sarah M. Grulke, age 52, of Little Rock, Arkansas passed away on March 2, 2026. She was born on January 19, 1974 to Fredrick Grulke and Sandra Lichtenberg Grulke.Sarah is preceded in death by her father Fredrick Grulke, brother Michael Grulke, grandparents Arthur and Marjorie Koepsell and Reinhard and Norma Grulke.She is survived by her husband Vince Barnes; three sons Lamonte Grulke, Ladavid Arberry, and Lavonte Arberry; two daughters India Barnes Aaron (Kalen) and Asia Barnes; grandchildren Ariyah Arberry, Karter Robertson, Skylar Arberry, Nolan Arberry, Soloman Aaron, and Kainen Jackson; her mother Sandra Grulke; brothers Matthew Grulke (Dawn) and Shawn Grulke (Michelle); sister Melinda Grulke; nieces Molly Grulke, Maxine Chapman, and Simone Chapman. She is also survived by many aunts, uncles, and cousins.Services will be held on Saturday, March 14th, at 2pm at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses; 2119 Wolf St. Little Rock, AR 72202. You can also watch services on Zoom. Zoom ID: 95594561841 Password: 233015If anyone wants to send flowers or plants the day of the service, they send it the address above. If they want to send anything prior to the event, they can send it to 2216 Wilson Rd Apt B Little Rock AR 72205.If they would like to donate to help with expenses, they can send donations to her husband Vince's cash app @ vbarnHOW IT ALL BEGANSarah Marie Hilda Grulke was born January 19th 1974 in a small village in Chinner, Kerala in Southern India, and she came to America on September 17th 1979. She was adopted by her adoptive parents Fredrick Grulke and Sandra Grulke. She was brought home to a farm in Dodge County, Wisconsin. A farm town Mayville, Wisconsin.When she came home, she was greeted by her brothers, Michael, Shawn and Matt. Then 8 years later, she was introduced to her sister, Melinda Grulke, who was adopted from South Korea.Sarah grew up in the Lutheran church, but later start studying with Jehovah's Witnesses in or around 1994. She moved to North Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995, and started to study seriously with sister Lisa Ziao, who aided her in the truth. She was baptized, a Jehovah's Witness shortly thereafter studying the Bible with them.HOME DEPOTWhen I first met her, she worked in the lawn garden section of the store. I noticed all the men would go through her line regardless if they needed anything or not in lawn and garden. I bet when she left Home Depot, their sales went down because everyone wanted to check out through her line. I'm sure they missed that big, beautiful smile, and bubbly personality. She loved helping people in lawn and garden. Sarah and I married January 21st 2001, at the Hospitality House in Burns Park.MEETING THE BOYSMeeting the boys for the first time was a challenge. They never had a father figure in the home. So it was understandable that there was some resistance. I can remember meeting LaDavid, the middle child, for the first time, and his reaction was that he wanted to throw a rock at my truck and he did. From then on, I knew I had a challenge ahead of me.JACKSONVILLE, ARKANSASWe moved to Jacksonville, Arkansas to start out our life together. We had a park in our backyard where the boys loved to play. Not to mention, our own backyard had a shed that the boys made their own. They remember what they did to it. Plus, my mother, Earlene Trimble, lived a few blocks away to help out when needed.NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSASWhen the girls were born, we moved shortly thereafter to North Little Rock, Arkansas in 2004. Sarah was a stay-at-home mom until the girls attended preschool. Sarah was always caring for her family. Those kids were her heart. She spent the majority of her time playing with them and teaching them about Jehovah, showing them what love really is. We lived the majority of their childhood life in that house in North Little Rock on Franklin Street off Pike.LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSASIt wasn't until October of 2015 that we moved to Little Rock.Sarah had a slew of jobs. She was a so to speak job taste tester. She could quit a job just like that and get another one just like that. I think it was because of her kind personality and good looks that she could get hire at most of these jobs.Sarah, for many years, worked in hotels around the metro area. She worked at the Courtyard Marriott, Days Inn, The Holiday Inn Presidential at Clinton center, the Wyndham and many others in the city. Many of the friends benefited from that because they knew they could get the hookup for cheap stay at a hotel anywhere in the country. She loved that business.She also worked with the phone industry. She worked at Radio Shack and Cricket wireless and was a Sprint rep for a while. The reason she got these jobs was she really good with people. She made sure they got what they needed and left the store happy. It made her happy if you were happy.Sarah was a loving mother and grandmother who cared and loved her children and grandchildren deeply.Her sickness started in February of 2020, for six long years she battled for her life. Doctors and nurses knew her by name, especially at UAMS. I told them that we needed a room with our name on it like the president's suites because we were there so much.She would do anything to try to live longer to keep seeing her loved ones. You could ask her for anything and she would do everything she could to make sure you were taken care of even if it meant that she would go without.Sarah was the most selfless person I knew. She would literally take the shirt off her back if you needed it. Her heart was big and her love was genuine, when she loved she loved hard.She suffered through heart surgeries and dialysis that took a lot of strength and energy from her body. But she was courageous that she pushed through with Jehovah's help and her faith in Jesus. She loved dearly. As her days were getting harder and harder Jehovah and Jesus are who she turned to. The example of Jesus and the love of the father Jehovah helped her through this journey. She knew there was nothing she could do to prolong her life. So she left it in God's hands and she knew that if she died that she would see us again in paradise when all things will be made new.So what a life of a beautiful mother, grandmother, beautiful wife, best friend, older sister, adoptive daughter. She was all of those things to many people she touched.So yes this beautiful soul will be missed so much. That smile, that voice, that laugh I will never forget and I'm sure you won't either.As she would always say "Mommy always will love you" mostly to her children but also to me as her husband. I knew that she loved all of us no matter what we were going through.May we all have this type of love. That we love hard, that we love like you mean it, and that we love like my sweet Sarah loved. Yes, like a champion because she was a champion of love.Arrangements by A Natural State Funeral Service 2620 West Main Street, Jacksonville, Arkansas 72076. 501-982-3400. Online guestbook available at www.anaturalstatefuneralservice.comTo plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.