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Vada Stanley Obituary
New Canaan Resident
One of the kindest, gentlest, most loving people in the world is no longer with us. Vada Shell Stanley, 80, passed away peacefully at home in New Canaan, Connecticut on July 13, 2013 after a long illness. Many of those who knew her could think of no better word than "angel" to describe her.
Wherever she went, Vada Stanley impressed people as a very special person. She might have won any beauty contest she entered, but her beauty was more than skin deep; inside there was a beautiful soul.
She could be and was a charming dinner companion for people like Bill Clinton and Prince Charles, among others, but the same warm charm was there for absolutely everyone who crossed her path . A key thing that made her so very special was her way of making each of us feel we were special to her. A rare combination of compassion, acceptance and love radiated from her being.
Born in 1933 in the rolling hills of Kentucky, she had a life that was charmed in many ways but with challenges as well. Hers was a loving family but not one in which people went to college. She did by earning all the money needed with jobs through her high school and college years. Not long after that she had to face the need to end a disastrous marriage with two tiny children to support, Bill and Glee, and no help from their father.
At that challenging time in her life she got a job, a rare one for women then, as a marketing management trainee at the home office of Procter & Gamble. There she met and married (three years later) Ted Stanley who worked in the same office in a similar job. Their 52-year marriage was a happy one; her husband never got over his great good luck in having found her. They had one son, Jonathan , who appreciated her just as much. After their marriage in 1961, they moved to Westport, Connecticut and have lived in New Canaan , CT since 1996 with, at various times, second homes in Manhattan, Santa Fe and Vermont.
Vada Stanley was quite simply one of the most wonderful people in all the world, and she will be long remembered by everyone fortunate enough to know her. May she rest in peace and find as much joy in another world as she gave to us. A memorial service to be held at a later date.
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Memories and Condolences
for Vada Stanley
Sponsored by Love for Vada .
Deidre(Dee Dee) Werner(Roland)
July 26, 2013
Dear Ted and Jonathan - I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your wife and mother. I will always remember how my Nana and Pop-Pop, Ted and Catherine Stanely, always spoke so highly of her. She was a remarkable lady and I will forever be greatful of how special she made my Nana feel. I hope that you can take comfort in knowing that you have a special guardian angel to watch over you.
Diane Cady
July 25, 2013
Dear Ted and family,
I send love to you and think about Vada
and her gifts to all of us. Wasn't she a role model for everyone?
July 24, 2013
Ted,
I had the great privilege of meeting your beautiful wife many years ago at the Oyster Festival and was completely charmed by her. We have lost a wonderful gift that in this time humanity can ill afford.
I am so very sorry for your and your families loss of a remarkable woman and devoted wife. I am certain that the peace of God that passes all understanding holds and surrounds her and keeps her as His own, forever.
Yours faithfully,
The Reverend Andrew L. C.C. Jones (Ret.)
July 21, 2013
Vada You gave me my most important opportunities and responsibilitiies in life. You made it possible for the Tratment Advocacy Center to exist. You gave me your son Jon as one of my friends, mentors and internal souls. I will know you for ever as a dream, a spark, I received who I immediately also knew thought kindly and graciously of me. When virtue and modesty enlighten your charms, your lustre of a beautiful woman was brighter than the stars of heaven, and the influence of your power impossible to resist. I miss you already, Vada. Thank you for being you and giving so many the way we may emulate you. We'll keep trying. Vada, the most beautiful and gracious of ladies I have ever known.
Rudy Brucato
July 18, 2013
Dear Ted & Family may it help in some small way to know that others share the sorrow of your lost Vada was truly a very special Lady and will be surly missed by all who's life she's touched.
Dave & Laurie Mapes
July 18, 2013
Dave and I send our deepest sympathy to you and your family, Ted. I fondly remember the first time I met you- at a dinner party in your home. You both made me feel so welcomed- I felt as if I had known you for years. Please know that you will be in our prayers in the days ahead. May peace, comfort and many beautiful memories of a very beautiful lady/life surround you and your family.
July 18, 2013
Dave and I send our deepest sympathy to you, Ted. The first time I met you and Vada, was at a dinner in your home. You made me feel so welcomed, I felt as if I had known you all my life. Please know that you will be in our prayers in the days to come. May peace, comfort and many beautiful memories surround you and your family.
Frank Don
July 18, 2013
One of my greatest joys in this life is having known Vada. She was a loving, warm presence with a sharp intellect and an ever-curious mind. I feel honored to have known her for so many years and to have many wonderful memories of her. Her legacy of love, light and active engagement is sure to shine in the hearts of the many people whose lives she touched.
Carol Chan
July 16, 2013
In honor of a great lady, I am deeply saddened to hear of her passing. Mrs. Stanley provided safety and opportunity to us because of great her compassion for the weak and vulnerable. I was inspired by her spirit of compassion to pursue my current career. I am grateful to
her and will deeply mourn this loss. My thoughts and prayers are with the entire Stanley family.
S Marshall
July 16, 2013
The righteous man Job, in the scriptures, went through much suffering and held faithful to the fact that if he would die God would remember him. He said "You will call and I myself will answer you. For the work of your hands you will have a yearning." May this tender , loving thought keep you comforted in the days to come.
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