The first set with a pear shape mabè pearl within a ridged gold surround, completed with posts and omega clip backs, stamped 750 (1 1/8 in.); the second set with a mabè pearl within a silver bezel stamped 925 S and completed with yellow gold posts and clip backs stamped 10K (1 in.)

From the Collection of the late Sara McCoy, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Sara McCoy’s jewelry was of a piece with the drape of her dress, her smile and her thick hair. She was elegant, warm and welcoming.

The landscape of Sara’s life changed often, beginning in childhood. Her father was a U. S. Army officer, and Sara grew up primarily on Army bases in California and, after World II, in Frankfurt, Germany, where she graduated from high school. She went to Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia and, through its art program, studied painting at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

On her twentieth birthday, Sara Hart married William O. McCoy, a Marine. Because of his military service and then his career with iterations of the Bell Telephone Company, the couple moved every year or two as they raised their two daughters. With each move, Sara rooted the family, organizing and creating a new home, each of which became a blank canvas for her talents in design and sewing. She was named one of the best-dressed women in New Orleans in the 1970s, garnering the recognition for clothes she’d made herself that were often complemented with her wonderful jewelry choices creating her unique style and flair. She was unstoppably creative, widening her scope as a Master Gardener curating her gardens, getting serious with photography in her own dark room, and producing a cookbook of family recipes.

After Sara and Bill’s last move — to Chapel Hill from Atlanta, in 1995 — she became active with the University of North Carolina, joining several boards and supporting Bill in his roles in the administration of the school.

Maybe because Sara knew so well the feeling of being the new girl, she had a knack for making people feel at home, and for finding out what made them sparkle.