Sarah "Sally" Handlan

May 16, 1930 - July 3, 2017

GENEVA – Sarah (Sally) Handlan, 87, passed away on Monday, July 3, 2017. There will be no prior calling hours. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 8, 2017 in St. Stephen’s Church.  Burial will be in Glenwood Cemetery at the convenience of the family. The family requests donation be made to the American Cancer Society, Our Lady of Peace Parish Martha Ministry, or to the American Heart Association. Sally was born in Geneva on May 16, 1930.  She was the daughter of the late James and Doris Fitton Smith.  She was a graduate of Geneva High School Class of 1948.  After high school she worked for the NY Telephone Co. and on December 29, 1951 she married John F. (Jack) Handlan at St. Francis de Sales Church.  After the wedding they journeyed to Biloxi, Mississippi, where Jack was stationed in the U.S. Air Force.  It was in Biloxi that they started their family with the birth of Patty and Mike.  Upon returning to Geneva in 1954, Sally went to work at Key Drug Co. where she remained until 1993, being absent from the pharmacy dept. only to continue the expansion of their family with the births of Barbara, Ellen and Jimmy. As a member of Our Lady of Peace Parish she lived her faith every day, showing great patience, love, kindness, compassion, and generosity to everyone she met.  After retirement Sally volunteered at both Geneva General Hospital and Seneca Lake Terrace.  She enjoyed keeping house and creating beautiful gardens at her home when she could be found daily, weeding and manicuring every plant right to the end. But it was the time with her family that was her biggest joy.  She cared for them with great love even while working full time.  As her grandchildren and great-grandchildren arrived, her heart made room to love and spoil them.  The joy they brought her allowed her to experience the many moments she missed because she worked when she raised her own children.  Whether she was cuddled up with them on her lap reading them a story, watching them at school events, playing sports, marching in parades, or just having silly times, they filled her heart.  She was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and the Knights of Columbus Auxiliary. Sally is survived by her children: Patty DeBolt, Michael Handlan (Teresa Mallett) of St. Cloud, FL, Barbara (Brett) Kindel and Ellen (Steve) Cavali; grandchildren: Ken (Janine) and Michele DeBolt, Kristen and Lisa Kindel, Jessica and Karen Handlan, Sarah and Michael Smith, and Daniel, Christopher and Michaela (Handlan) Fidler; great-grandchildren: Emily and Joseph DeBolt, Andre Kearns, and Blake Smith; her brothers, James (Helen) Smith and Robert (Eva) Smith; her sister, Ellen Arndt; brothers-in-law, Joseph Pietrosanti and Claude McCasland, Richard Handlan and sister-in-law Shirley Smith; her dear friend, Howard Searles; and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, Jack, in 1996; son, Jimmy in 2004; her brothers, Louis and William Smith; her sisters, Doris Pietrosanti and Gertrude Sheets; and several nieces and nephews.