Sara Gonzalez Madison

Sara Gonzalez Madison was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1933, and with her four sisters spent her childhood there. Sara earned a nursing degree from the University of Madrid and became a registered nurse, which is how she met her future husband, Bob — he was US Air Force officer stationed at the Torrejon Air Base near Madrid.

Sara was working there as a civilian nurse for a friend of Bob’s. When the two decided to marry in 1960, they could not do so in Spain — such “mixed” marriages were forbidden by the country’s dictator Francisco Franco.

Sara and Bob, with Sara’s mother and one of her sisters, managed to hold the wedding ceremony in Gibraltar, which was under British rule. The Spaniards could enter Gibraltar via ferry from Morocco, and Bob, the American, could simply drive across the border.

Bob and Sara Madison wedding July 1,1960

Sara was small in stature but she had a giant, outgoing personality. She never let her heavy Spanish accent or occasional search for English words stop her from doing what she wanted. For instance: Sara learned quite suddenly what “winter” meant in northeast Ohio. But true to her nature, she made the best of things: She learned to ski and joined the US Ski Patrol at Brandywine and Boston Mills ski areas.

Although her sisters eventually scattered over the globe — two moved to Canada, one married an Englishman, another stayed in Spain — Sara kept in close touch and visited with her girls as often as possible. She, Bob and the girls traveled often — to visit the girls’ aunts and sometimes to Colorado or Utah ski resorts.

Bob, Sara and daughter Shari Madison in Barberton in 1964

By her daughter Shari Madison Sweeney