Sandra P. Shilansky

Sandra P. (Rudman) Shilansky

Webster, NH - Sandra P. (Rudman) Shilansky of Webster, NH, passed away after a long illness on August 12, 2025, at the age of 80. Sandra was the devoted wife of Byron H. Shilansky, and mother of Dr. Mark Shilansky & his wife Dr. Kathleen Flynn, and Neil & his wife Mindy Shilansky. She adored her grandchildren Lauren and David Shilansky, and was beloved by her siblings Judith Itzkowitz (and husband Herbert), Marilyn Frank (and husband Paul), and Richard Rudman (and wife Michelle Cecchini). Sandra is also survived by many nieces and nephews. She is pre-deceased by her parents, Abraham ("Al") and Frieda Rudman, and her other "child," the Siberian husky Natasha (the wolf girl).

Sandra, or Sandy as her friends and family called her, was born in Buffalo, NY. Her saxophonist/clarinetist father Abraham moved the family to the Boston area (Stoneham, MA) for access to the more fertile music scene. Sandy adored her parents and her siblings, and enjoyed a close relationship with them throughout their lives. Sandy often enjoyed hearing her father play gigs with artists such as Louis Armstrong and Tony Bennett. She inherited a love for music from her father, especially jazz and R&B (there was a particular mid-tempo funk beat she enjoyed swaying to, exemplified by the song "Josie" by one of her favorite bands, Steely Dan), and she and her husband Byron passed this love of music on to their two sons, unconditionally supporting them in the pursuit of their musical careers. Sandy and Byron had a whirlwind courtship and married on February 2, 1969 (six weeks after first meeting!) in a double wedding with Sandy's younger sister Marilyn and her fiancée Paul. After some years in Concord, NH, Sandy, Byron, Mark, and Neil moved to the family homestead in Webster where (after a 2-year sojourn to Sheboygan, Wisconsin to follow Byron's career promotion) they lived from 1982 to the present day.

Besides a love of music, Sandy also inherited her parents' punny, clever sense of humor, filled with pop-culture references, funny voices, and catch phrases. Opting for a career as a homemaker, she was an avid reader and autodidact, reinforcing her children's education and advocating fiercely for them.

Sandy loved cooking, crafting (for a time she supplemented the family income by sewing and selling pillow replicas of Pac Man and other characters, and self-designed jewelry), films and TV (and dissecting them with friends and family), spending time with Byron, the love of her life, doting on her children and grandchildren, attending as many concerts and sporting events of theirs as she could, and lavishing them and other relatives with impeccably chosen gifts on birthdays and holidays. Her "happy place" was the porch of the family's bucolic log house by a lake, taking in the sights and sounds of the wildlife and beauty of the landscape. To her children's friends she was "the cool mom" who always remembered details of their lives and related well to them. She brought so much joy into the world with her presence, her laugh, her kindness, that she will be missed by all who knew her.

Services will be held at the Goldman Funeral Chapel 174 Ferry Street (off Route 60), Malden, on Sunday, August 17 at 1:00 PM. The Interment will be at Lebanon Tiferet Shalom Cemetery in Peabody.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the Hopkinton Fire Fighters Association, 9 Pine Street, Contoocook, NH 03229, https://www.hopkinton-nh.gov/fire-department . For directions or online condolences go to www.goldmanfc.com.