June 2, 1944 – September 28, 2025
Sally Jane Sinclair Rasmussen, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, teacher, and artist, passed away on September 28th 2025 in Rockwell, IA.
Memorial Services will be 11am Saturday, October 18, 2025 at the Clear Lake United Methodist Church, 508 2nd Ave N, Clear Lake, IA 50428.
Visitation will be held one hour prior to the services.
Following the services, the family will continue celebrating Sally’s life at the Clear Lake Arts Center, 17 S 4th St, Clear Lake, IA 50428.
Born June 2, 1944, in Fort Dodge, Iowa, to David Gilbert Sinclair and Florine Jesse Fields, Sally’s life was marked by a vibrant spirit, a love of mischief, and a dedication to creativity. She graduated from Fort Dodge High School in 1962, studied two years at Iowa Central Community College, and earned her Bachelor’s degree from Wayne State College in 1967. In 1998, she completed a Master of Art and Design at Iowa State University, an achievement that set her on her silk art era.
Sally began her teaching career in Colorado Springs, CO, before moving to upstate New York with her first husband, Phil Blodgett. She taught there for 11 years before stepping away to raise her two children, Brian and Michelle. In 1980, following her divorce, Sally returned to Iowa and to the classroom, continuing the work she loved. In 1983, she married Alan Rasmussen at the First United Methodist Church in Fort Dodge, IA. Together they built a full life on the family farm-Sally’s farm resume began and ended with walking beans, gardening and creating beautiful murals on old farm buildings. Moving in 2006 to Clear Lake, Iowa, where they designed and created a home that radiated with color and art.
Sally devoted over three decades to teaching art in public schools, retiring in 2004. She was widely recognized for her excellence in education, receiving the Golden Apple Award in 1996 and being named Iowa Art Educator of the Year in 2004. Beyond the classroom, she was a prolific artist whose work spanned murals, signs, art shows, silk banners, marbled designs, and rocks. Her colorful creations found homes in churches, galleries, businesses, gardens and private collections throughout the Midwest. She continued to teach art classes in her Clear Lake studio and at the local Art Center, inspiring generations of artists young and old.
Her creativity was matched by her passion for community. Sally was active in PEO, her church, Garden Club, Amazing Grace Book Study, Chamber First Mate, and helped organize Clear Lake’s first fall studio tour. Her energy, warmth, and positivity were contagious. She loved color, her family, tea, flower gardens, hiding vegetables in lasagna, sharing her art, teaching, seashells, Christmas and chocolate.
Sally is survived by her husband, Alan K. Rasmussen; son Brian (Christina) Blodgett; daughter Michelle (Steve Kaari) Blodgett; brother David Gilbert Sinclair II (Pam); and brother-in-law Frank Dunn. She was a devoted grandmother to Madison (Nancy), Thomas (Amanda), Amelia, Norah, and Owen, and she was cherished by many nieces and nephews. She was claimed by her two cats, Sassy and Sophie.
She was preceded in death by her parents and sister Shirley Dunn.
Sally lived life in bold colors. She filled the world with art, light, positivity, and joy. Where the world was gray, she brought color. When the world made coffee, she brought tea. When the world was silent, she brought Elvis. Where there was junk food, she brought fruits and vegetables (except for her ice cream, her twizzlers, her Cheetos…..).Her legacy lives on in the countless students she taught, the art she created, and the family she so dearly loved.
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