Nancy Sando

Mrs. Nancy Sando (nee Embree) died on July 1, 2015. She brought nine children, 21 grandchildren, and 16 great grandchildren into this world and will be deeply missed by her extended family and the many people whose lives she touched in such a loving manner.

Nancy Nell Embree was born on December 10, 1925 in Kemmerer, Wyoming, a small coal-mining town where her father ran the local hardware store. Nancy's stories about childhood escapades with her older brothers, Norris, Ralph and Raymond, were always a delight and instilled in her own children an appreciation for fun, adventure and the simple things in life. Norris and Raymond would go on to successful business careers at Eastman Kodak and General Motors, respectively. Sadly Ralph, who was awarded a place at the US Naval Academy and later became a Hellcat pilot, was shot down over Japan in the waning moments of World War II.

Nancy received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Colorado in 1945 where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa (for academic excellence) and an active leader of school organizations. She married Francis Albert Sando on Thanksgiving Day in 1946. Over the next 14 years, Nancy followed the engineering career of her husband from Boulder, to Seattle, to Detroit and finally to Philadelphia in 1960.

For over 40 years, the Sando residence on North Bowman Avenue in Merion was known to be a joyous place where her children and grandchildren as well as their cousins, school friends and international students from St Joseph's University were frequently gathered. Nancy welcomed one and all into a loving home and took great delight in the happiness and antics of her many generations of family and their friends.

Nancy was a very special mother who nurtured her nine children both in mind and body. She was a staunch advocate for education and all of her children received university degrees as well as a range of post-graduate degrees. Her belief in education followed a family history that included her mother, Mary Scott Embree, the first woman trustee of the University of Wyoming and her great grandfather, John Gregg Fee, founder of Berea College in Kentucky.

When her last child was in high school, Nancy began her Master's degree in educational counselling and was soon appointed Director of International Students at St. Joseph's University. This led to a further extended family and the Sando household now included a diverse group of students from China to Nigeria. Nancy enjoyed a longstanding relationship as a second mother to some of these students long after they graduated college. She continued this work at Drexel University. In 2004, she received her Master's degree in Higher Education Counselling.

After she retired from her counselling position at the age of 80, Nancy remained as industrious as ever through a collection of pursuits including community organizations, book clubs, bible study, creative writing classes and painting. She also embarked upon the chronicling of the Sando/Embree family history through humorous and vividly descriptive accounts that provided the text version of the stories she loved telling. Those who know Nancy well will appreciate what a prodigious reader she was throughout her life and in her later years she deeply enjoyed her book groups. And yet, she remained devoted to her many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren --no birthday, graduation or significant anniversary passed without a warm and loving message from Grandma.

Nancy was a kind and gentle person who captured our hearts with the unwavering love she showed to her family and friends. She was a simple country girl with a brilliant intellect, indomitable spirit and a selfless devotion to the people she cared for. She always provided a safe haven and a soul-lifting chat when life's trials and tribulations became particularly rough. She was truly an extraordinary woman and an inspiration to us all.

Nancy is predeceased by her husband, Francis "Frank" Albert and her eldest son, Ralph Sando, M.D. (Joyce). She is survived by her children Carol Sando, PhD., Marilu Sutter (Francis), James Sando, M.D. (Barbara), Richard Sando, Gregg Sando (Sarah), Robert Sando, Nancie Pomponio (Ross), Laura Sando (Pedro).



Relatives and friends are invited to her viewing Monday, July 6, 2015 6:30-8:30 PM The Donohue Funeral Home, 366 W. Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, PA (610) 989-9600 and Tuesday, July 7, 2015 9:00-9:50 AM St. Matthias Church, 128 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, followed by her Funeral Mass at 10:00 AM. Interment Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken, PA.



In lieu of flowers, contributions to Berea College, Attention: Amy Shehee, Director of Gift Planning, 101 Chestnut Street, Berea, KY 40404 would be appreciated.



Eulogy given at Funeral by her daughter Marilu:



What do you say about someone who is one of the most extraordinary people you've ever known? Words seem really inadequate.



Mom was a quiet unassuming woman, but so very wise. In fact, she knew more than any other person I have ever met in my life. I have often said that our mom would be just as comfortable chatting with a homeless person on a park bench as a prime minister at a formal state dinner. She could talk to anybody about anything because she knew so much about everything. Our mom read thousands of books in her lifetime and remembered events from her childhood as if they happened yesterday. There were stories of Native Americans who smelled her mom baking bread and wandered into their kitchen, of her brother Ralph who made his own version of an airplane and flew it off a cliff, of the hard times in the west during the Great Depression and World War II, These childhood stories were mesmerizing to us no matter how many times we heard them.



Our home was never dull, there was always some antics going on, mostly because of our brothers, and even though we didn't have two cents to rub together, we never felt poor, we never felt deprived. The grandkids call us the Big Nine because of the incredible bond we have for each other and mom played a huge part in creating that closeness, sometimes good, sometimes not. She would decorate our bikes and cars so that we won every Fourth of July parade, she would offer us one of her amazing creative ideas so we aced our school projects, and for most of us, we would cherish the five dollar bill, or the care package that she would send us every week while we were in college. And even though she had babies and toddlers and a million other things to tend to, she never forgot, not once, no matter how busy her life was.



Mom was happy to be in the shadows of all of us kids and especially our very irascible dad, but ironically, she was the most brilliant. She always knew just the right thing to say when we were on the ledge! And believe me, with nine kids, 21 grandkids, and 16 great grandkids that was quite a lot of times! Her words were full of wisdom, common sense, humor, and sometimes a much-needed kick in the pants! Mom would take our seemingly insurmountable dilemma and turn it into a matter of fact solution. And always we would say afterwards: Now why didn't I think of that? She was not perfect, and never claimed to be, but she always told us that we were her greatest achievement, and in the end, our visits to her in the nursing home kept her alive when all the odds were against her. The resilience and courage she showed when she could no longer talk, or write, or walk were a testimony to her wanting to be with us just a little bit longer.



There were so many lives that she touched over the years: international students at Saint Joe's and Drexel, neighborhood friends in all the homes we lived in, her Tai Chi and Scrabble buddies at the Thomas Wynne apartments, and, of course, her beloved book club friends. There was always room at the dinner table for all of our friends, and she became a second mom to them. Our Merion home, we called 270, was the fun and happening place to be! Tropicana parties, chicken busts, inkfish on Christmas Eve. Needless to say her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews will forever remember Grandma with cherished memories, most of them being small gestures, gifts or words, never anything grandiose or flashy, just simple and always just right! She never forgot a birthday, an anniversary, a wedding, a birth, or a graduation. Her kitchen calendar was filled with reminders of all the special events in our lives.



There is a song in the musical Wicked that says: "So much of me is made of what I've learned from you. You will be with me like a handprint on my heart." Our mom indeed has left a handprint on our hearts. She was born a simple country girl from a dusty little mining town in Wyoming, but because of her amazing spirit and intellect, Mom quietly and effortlessly changed the lives of all of us here today and countless others.



We love you Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, always and forever. Thank you for never giving up on us, for making us better human beings, better husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, better sisters and brothers. We hope that you and dad are swinging to Sinatra right now, laughing with Ralph, and reminiscing with your parents and brothers. You deserve that and so much more!