Waine Sarah Haines

Waine Sarah Haines (née Porter) of Oakland passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday, August 23, 2022, at the age of 80.

Waine, better known as Sarah, was born in Bennettsville, South Carolina and was one of three children to James and Victoria Porter.  When Sarah was about five years old, her family moved from South Carolina to Brooklyn, NY, where she spent her formative years. There she attended Ft Hamilton High School and was involved in Trinity Club, the volleyball team and was voted MVP for the Girls’ Varsity Basketball Team. After graduating high school in 1959, Sarah enrolled at the Brooklyn Hospital School of Nursing and received her certification as a Registered Nurse in 1962.

Sarah furthered her education earning a Bachelor’s Degree from Jersey City State College in 1978 and a Master’s Degree from the California College for Health Sciences in 1998.   Over the course of her career, Sarah worked at a number of medical institutions including Beth Israel Hospital in Passaic, NJ, Alps Manor Nursing Home in Wayne, NJ and Oakland Care Center in Oakland, NJ.  Beyond her clinical work, Sarah was engaged as an LPN Instructor at Passaic County Technical Institute in Wayne, NJ, where she taught students from 1979 until 1986.  Later, Sarah moved to California where she served as the Director and Psychiatric Technician Instructor at Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, until she retired in 1998 to care for her second husband who had fallen ill.  After her husband passed, Sarah spent time tutoring nursing students studying for the Nursing Board exams.  

On the 23rd of September in 1962, Sarah married Marvin Marshall Liss.  Together Sarah and Marvin lived in Passaic where they welcomed the births of their two children, Allan and Michele.  Shortly after the birth of their daughter, the family moved to Lincoln Park, NJ, and later, Wayne, NJ where they settled to raise their children. Eventually Sarah parted ways with her first husband and was later introduced to Olympus (Oly) Ernest Haines, the brother of her close friend and colleague Athena Fitzgerald.  The two fell in love and married on September 27, 1987 in Las Vegas, NV and settled in southern California. She and her husband Oly cherished eleven years of committed and loving marriage together until Oly’s passing in 1998.

Sarah was very active in a variety of programs at the Oakland Senior Center, particularly the Arts Program. She was a voracious reader and was a member of a variety of book clubs in her area including the Oakland Senior Center and the Oakland Public Library.  She most enjoyed  romance novels, mystery novels, and watching crime drama programs on television, and  considered herself a writer of sorts. Sarah worked on her own novel over the years and was quite artistically talented,  creating a number of watercolor paintings and pencil drawings.  Most important to Sarah, however, was her family. She was a dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother.  

Sarah dedicated her life to caring for others.  In her family, career, and friendship, Sarah demonstrated a remarkable level of devotion, selflessness, and generosity. She touched many lives and will be missed dearly.

Sarah is survived by her daughter Michele McInnes and her husband David of Brooklyn, NY, one brother James Franklin Porter, Jr. of Brooklyn, NY, three grandchildren; J. Hammerman of Brooklyn, NY, Lucky McInnes Connelly of New York City, NY, and Brigid McInnes Connelly of Los Angeles, CA, four stepchildren; Linda Klass of Long Island, NY, Doreen Haines of Colorado, Michael Haines of Indiana, and Andrew Haines of South Carolina.  She was predeceased by her husband Olympus Ernest Haines (1998), her son Allan Brian Liss (1996), her brother William Joseph Porter (1955), and her stepson Jeffery Jerome Haines (2017).

In lieu of flowers, donations are welcome in Sarah’s name to the Humane Society of the United States,1255 23rd St. NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20037  http://www.humanesociety.org