Sally Hand

Sally Hand

Age: 57 • Burlington

Sally Hand, 57 years of age, beloved daughter of Samuel and Harriet Hand, passed away on the morning of July 8, 2017 after an acute respiratory infection and complications from her kidney transplant in October 2014. She was born on July 15, 1959 in Kingston, NY, but came to Vermont with her parents as an infant in 1961. After graduating from Burlington High School in 1977, Sally went on to major in history at the University of Vermont, receiving her BA degree in 1981, before earning her masters in Library Science in 1983 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sally loved history, politics, current events, spending time with the "Holly Lane kids", as a volunteer patient advocate at UVMMC and cheering on her beloved Carolina Tar Heels during any of their numerous championship games, particularly if they happened to be playing against Duke University.

After earning her MSLS from UNC, she moved to New York where she worked as a tax librarian for the audit, tax and consulting firm of Deloitte & Touche while remaining active as a UVM alum. In addition to being a corporate librarian, Sally also volunteered for NY Cares and was a Team Lead for Read To Me, an award-winning children's literacy project in the borough of Queens. Her love of reading and her love of children were evident in her volunteer services, and she continued to volunteer in the children's branch of the Burlington Public Library until the time of her death.

After moving from NY, Sally also worked as a law librarian in various firms in Washington, DC, where she was active in the Betsy-Tacy Society and retired in 2009 from the international law firm Holland & Knight where she worked as Assistant Librarian, Mid-Atlantic Region. While at Holland & Knight in 2008 she received the prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award from the Washington Lawyer's Committee for her work with the Washington office's Opening Doors for Children volunteer program as an advocate for child literacy.

Following her time in D.C. and after a brief stint in North Carolina, she returned to Burlington, where having been diagnosed with renal failure she started her dialysis regime and became involved with the Transplant Donor Network "TDN" community. This group of friends who were all touched by transplantation, became her support during the 2+ years of dialysis and after she received her new kidney. Sally remained active in Donate Life Vermont and would travel to high schools with Jim Carter. Here Jim would share the need for drivers to "buckle up" and Sally would welcome these soon to be and new drivers, to check the "donate" box when getting their license, and to go to donatelifevt.org to officially register as an organ donor.

Sally's other passion was her faith and her family at the Ohavi Zedek Synagogue. Sally was intrigued by the history of the Jewish community in Burlington, served as the synagogue librarian and was an enthusiastic supporter of folk art, including the rare mural at the Chai Adam synagogue that is now part of Congregation Ohavi Zedek. She also enjoyed memories of her time at YWCA Camp Hochelaga, a girls' summer camp on Lake Champlain where she made lifelong friends.

Sally is survived by her sisters, Ilana Hand and Marci Hand Raab, her brother-in-law David Raab and their children Nathan and Elizabeth Raab; also many aunts, uncles and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Organ Donation Special Fund. Please make checks payable to Vermont Department of Health and on memo line, write "Organ Donation Special Fund". Mail to VT Dept. of Health, C/O Shayla Livingston, 108 Cherry Street, Burlington, VT 05401. A non-monetary gift of life would thrill Sally most of all. You can become an organ donor in her memory, by entering your information on the donatelifevt.org website. Simply checking "organ donor" on your license is not sufficient.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 11 at Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, 188 N. Prospect St, Burlington with interment to follow in Hebrew Holy Society Cemetery, 319 Patchen Rd. S. Burlington. Arrangements are by Boucher and Pritchard Funeral Directors.

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