Lower Bucks Bridge Renamed After Fallen Soldier

Community Corner

Lower Bucks Bridge Renamed After Fallen Soldier Officials and family gathered Monday to rename the Route 213 bridge in Lower Southampton Twp. to the Ensign Sarah Mitchell Memorial Bridge.

—The Route 213 bridge over the Neshaminy Creek now has a new name, dedicated to a fallen soldier.

The bridge is now named after Ensign Sarah Mitchell Memorial Bridge during a ceremony on Monday in honor of the lifelong township resident and Neshaminy High School graduate.

View the bridge dedication ceremony below

Mitchell lost her life during a training exercise while serving as an ensign in the U.S. Navy in Jordan on July 8, 2018, at the age of 23.

State Rep. Joe Hogan along with Sen. Frank Farry's support, introduced legislation to formally dedicate this bridge to Ensign Mitchell.

Earlier this summer, their language was included in an omnibus package of dedications, now Act No. 63 of 2024.

Mitchell's family and friends, local dignitaries, Lower Southampton Township officials, Neshaminy Schools Superintendent Jay Bowman, Betty Carleo from the Bucks County Department of Veterans Affairs and community members gathered Monday morning for the ceremony.

Farry and Hogan opened the program, followed by a presentation of colors from the Lower Southampton Township Police Honor Guard, the Pledge of Allegiance led by Lower Southampton Township Board of Supervisors Chairman Kim Koutsouradis, and the National Anthem was sung by 12th-grade members of the Neshaminy High School Select Choir.

Sarah Joy Mitchell was born in Meadowbrook to John and Betsy McClay Mitchell. She was a proud 2013 graduate of Neshaminy High School, where she excelled at field hockey, basketball, and track & field.

Mitchell graduated in 2017 from Virginia Tech and the Corps of Cadets having earned her degree in biochemistry.

She served as platoon commander for Virginia Tech's Naval ROTC. Her determination and loyalty secured her commission in May of 2017 and reported to the guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham in June of that same year.

The destroyer was deployed to the Middle East from its home port of NAS Norfolk, Va.

"Ensign Sarah Mitchell is a local hero who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving her country. I am honored to have had a part in naming this bridge as a part of ensuring Sarah's memory will live on forever right here in her community of Lower Southampton Township," Farry said.

"Ensign Sarah Mitchell was one of Lower Southampton's best and brightest and her life was lost far too soon. I was proud to work with Senator Frank Farry to rename this bridge in her memory, so she is never forgotten," Hogan said.

"The renaming of this bridge ensures that the legacy of Sarah's sacrifice is enshrined in the daily life of our community," said Peter Chong, Deputy District Director for Congressman Fitzpatrick.

"Our family kayaked and canoed under this bridge for years and had many picnics at Plawicki. Sarah would truly love this," Sarah's mother, Betsy Mitchell, said during the ceremony.

Sarah's brother, Kevin Mitchell said: "I was proud every day to call Sarah my sister."

Her aunt and godmother, Vicki Brennan, recalled a conversation when Mitchell was younger.

"When she was 12 years old, Sarah told me she was a proud American and when she grew up, she was going to be in the Navy."

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