Photo of Sara Tillman via Facebook
Sara Tillman, an Oak Cliff native and Bishop Arts District restaurant owner beginning in 1992, has died after a two-year illness. She was 68.
Friends and loved ones gathered at Tillman’s bedside after she entered hospice Friday. Musician Jerry Don Branch, a longtime friend, played the guitar and sang to her. Tillman died at about 7 the following morning, July 23.
Tillman was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome in 2020, and her health declined gradually from there, friends say.
“She stayed the same old Sara,” says Diane Kyle Edwards, a friend since 9th grade. “The same spirit, the same Sara.”
Born Sara Wyrick, she grew up in Oak Cliff and went to Kimball High School.
A certain Oak Cliff celebrity is embedded into her story. Maybe it ought to be etched onto her headstone, says Donna Johnson, a friend of 40 years.
“Her claim to fame, and you will hear this from many people, is that she dated Stevie Ray Vaughan for six weeks in eighth grade,” Johnson says.
Sara and Ricky Tillman in 1980. Photo via Facebook
She married her second husband, Ricky Tillman, in 1978. Ricky, a chef who worked with Dean Fearing and Richard Chamberlain, opened Tillman’s Corner in 1992.
The restaurant on West 7th Street preceded the Bishop Arts District brand and brought small business to our neighborhood at a time when there was hardly any commercial investment here. Their neighbors at the time were Olines hair salon, the Soda Gallery and not much else.
When Ricky died of cancer in 1997, Sara Tillman carried on with the business, eventually quitting her job at Republic Title to run it full time. In 2007, she partnered with event planner Todd Ficus to redesign and rebrand the restaurant as Tillman’s Roadhouse, a more upscale concept than its predecessor, and it received a slew of accolades.
Tillman’s Roadhouse and Hattie’s were the “staple stakeholders” that made Bishop Arts a destination, says property owner Jim Lake.
“She was always at the front door greeting people, and that’s the key to successful self-proprietorships in Bishop Arts,” Lake says. “Not only would she be at the front door, but she’d be out on the sidewalk talking to people.”
A fan of live music, including her brother-in-law Bill Tillman, Sara was always the life of the party, Edwards says.
“I’d be like, ‘Sarah, I’m really tired. I want to go home,'” Edwards says. “She’d be like, ‘Oh, you go ahead. I’ll get a ride.'”
In the ’70s, they road-tripped frequently to Austin to see Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Willie Nelson and all those three-named Texas country singers.
One night in the early ’70s, after a show at a club off of Bee Caves Road in Austin, Edwards found a 20-dollar bill lying on the ground, and they thought they’d won the lottery, spending it how 20-somethings do, on beer and wine. The next morning, she and Sara woke up to cows peeking in the windows of Edwards’ Toyota Corolla.
“I guess we had a good time that night,” Edwards says.
Later, she and Ricky spent their days off camping in Oklahoma, and they spent a lot of time with friends at Grapevine Lake. After Ricky died, Sara traveled with her pals from Republic Title.
She sold Tillman’s Roadhouse and retired in 2016; the restaurant closed in 2019.
“I spent a third of my life going in that building everyday,” she wrote on social media then. “I love all the memories made there and all the friends I’ve made.”
And Sara Tillman had so many friends.
When she was hospitalized in 2020, members of the Oak Cliff Gardeners Facebook group organized to move all of her plants into her greenhouse before a cold snap. So many people showed up that the job took less than an hour. Volunteers showed up again when it was time to move all of her plants back out in the spring.
Photo of Sara Tillman via Facebook.
Tillman’s beloved dogs Quinn and Curly preceded her in death. Curly died just a few months ago.
Her dad and mom died in 1996 and 2007, respectively.
She is survived by a brother, Thomas Wyrick, and sister-in-law Joyce.
“She made everyone feel like they were her best friend. That’s just Sara,” Johnson says. “That’s a character trait that I try to continue in my life. That is a gift that is very unique.”
Calvario Funeral Home is handling the funeral, and she will be buried near her parents and Ricky in Auburn.
A funeral service begins at 11 a.m. Monday, Aug. 1, at Cliff Temple Baptist Church, and family will receive friends at 10 a.m. A graveside service follows at 1:30 p.m. at Auburn Cemetery.
