Valerie Anne Salmon Standard

Valerie Anne Salmon Standard, resident of Chappaqua, NY, and Seabrook Island, SC, died peacefully on the morning of November 23 in Hospice of Charleston. A native New Yorker, she was born in Manhattan and spent her formative years in Brooklyn, attending first public and then parochial school until her teens, when she went away to boarding school in Pennsylvania. Not long after graduating, she met Kenneth Standard, who had just graduated from Harvard College, and within little more than a year, they married and were living in Cambridge while he earned a degree from Harvard Law School. She worked full-time during those years, continuing her education in the evenings at the Harvard University extension program, until the birth of their first child, Alison.

Upon Ken's graduation from law school, they moved back to New York and had two more children, sons Devin and Trevor. Valerie stayed home until all of the children were well established in school, at which time she returned to college, earning a BA with honors from SUNY Purchase and a Masters from Fordham University. She became a Certified Social Worker and spent most of her career in clinical social work, counseling clients with psychological and/or substance abuse issues.

Retiring before Ken, she lived primarily in their vacation home in the Charleston area, continuing a very active life, entertaining and traveling extensively with Ken, as well as with other members of the family. Friends and family alike attest to the fact that she always had time to speak with them, listen to their problems, offer advice, consolation or an encouraging word. She knew no strangers.

In addition to her husband and children, she leaves behind to cherish her memory a brother, a sister-in-law, two daughters-in-law, four grandchildren, a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Memorial gatherings have been organized in New York and South Carolina to celebrate her wonderful life. If anyone wishes to honor her memory they may make a contribution to one of her favorite charities: Pet Helpers of South Carolina, 1447 Folly Road, Charleston, SC 29412 http://www.pethelpers.org or to the Salmon/Standard Educational Opportunities Fund, administered by The New York Bar Foundation, One Elk Street, Albany, NY 12207, Phone: (518) 487-5650 http://www.tnybf.org/give.htm.