Sandra Lee Hile

1950 - 2021
Sandra Lee Hile, 71, of Larchmont, NY, passed away peacefully on October 13, 2021.

Sandra was born on June 24, 1950 in Mineola, NY to Letitia Isabel Fowler and Harry Edward Hile. She grew up in Garden City, Long Island and graduated from Garden City High School in 1968.

By virtue of Harry's career at TWA, the family were avid travelers throughout Sandra's childhood. She would often speak fondly - and perhaps with a touch of lingering weariness - of the family's 24-hour adventures from Long Island to California to make a "day trip" to Disneyland. They also visited France, England, Portugal, Greece, Israel, Egypt, and Brazil.

She graduated from Wells College in 1972 with a Bachelor's degree in Biology and soon after earned a Master's degree in Accounting. Sandra was a lifelong learner and always taking classes.

She met Jeffrey Herrmann in 1978 while in Vermont on a ski trip to Killington. The pair wed on May 4, 1980 in New Rochelle, NY, holding the wedding on the front lawn of her sister Lynn and brother-in-law Bob's home. Sandra and Jeffrey moved to Mamaroneck, NY, where they had their first son Benjamin, and later to their house on Concord Avenue in Larchmont, where they welcomed their second son, William.

In 1998 she earned a second Master's degree in Library and Information Science at Long Island University and began a new career as a children's librarian, teaching hundreds of students and instilling in her own children a lifelong love of reading.

She worked for many years as a school librarian at the Mount Pleasant Blythedale School in Valhalla, NY, where she taught children with disabilities and other medical needs who were receiving treatment at the Blythedale Children's Hospital. She later finished her career as the children's librarian at the Greenburgh Public Library where her regular "storytimes" were anticipated events among children and parents in the community.

Sandra was a dog-lover with a particular affinity for hounds. As a girl she adored the beloved family beagle Lucky, and, after starting a family of her own, cared for Nigel, the family basset hound, and later for her second beagle, Shannon.

She was fond of beaches and spending time on the Long Island Sound - there was little that made her happier than a water view. Because Ben & Willie wanted to wakeboard, Sandra bought Serenity, a retired fishing boat. Nothing was outside her comfort zone when it came to her children. She enjoyed tending her backyard garden in Larchmont, finding the right recipe to try in a new cookbook, and in retirement, spending time playing with her granddaughter Lake.

Sandra is survived by her husband Jeffrey; her sons Benjamin and William; Benjamin's wife Elizabeth; her sister Lynn; her granddaughter Lake; and her nieces and nephews Kate, Edward, Elise, and James.

A memorial service will be held at the Scarsdale Congregational Church on November 6, 2021 at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Library Association.