Hey Ted,
I'm with Maxx on this one. In Sara's visa history (don't believe that it's only held for a certain period of time), the VISA has been entered as an emergency visa. If too much time shows between issuing and actually using it, you could encounter problems later on.
Your brother might not be good, but don't let him screw up your future plans as well. You can easily throw a wrench into his plans by getting a wills and estates lawyer (unfortunately I only know ones in Toronto) to challenge the will or him being the executor (even the suggestion of that might slow him down). I won't pretend to know that much about US law, but there has to be something you can do.
I'm not sure which airport(s) might be within driving distance, however you might want to consider some alternate airports. Also check with some airlines directly to see if they have a berevement fare. Some of them do... I'm not sure what the exact requirements are, but I would assume that a copy of the death certificate would be one of them.