Memories of Sarah Ellen Kaminski, (1946 - 2020)

Share a special moment from Sarah's life.

Letter from Sally to Aunt Ruth & Uncle Ed Hawley 4-29-1989

December 25, 2020

From Cousin Beth Hawley - 12-23-20

I went digging in the basement in a box that I had shipped home from La Jolla, and lo and behold, there was an album inside that I had put together for mom and dad's 45th wedding anniversary. Inside, there was an amazing 3-page letter to my parents from Sally....written in her perfect penmanship as well as her wry sense of humor.

Beth

Attachments area

Tom the Turkey

November 24, 2020

We had a lot of fun gag gifting and poking fun at each other over football rivalries, cooking, and whatever. This is one of the most recent gifts from Sal that we bring out to remember her. We were fortunate to share many Thanksgivings together so I'm happy to wear the Tom the Turkey hat.

Beer Run

September 14, 2020

Back in the late 70's, there was no TSA at the airports and security mostly directed traffic. You had a paper ticket in hand and just went to your gate & got on the plane. At the end of one of her visits, we stopped for Mexican food on the way to the airport. Sal wanted to take Coors beer back for a friend at home who was nuts about it. At that time, Coors was a relatively small Colorado brand which had just started distribution in Texas & wasn't available in Wisconsin. We stopped at a store & she bought some Coors. Running late, we dropped her at the curb and the last view was Sal jogging into the airport with her carry-on bag, purse and 12 pack. She told us later that her seat neighbor kept eying her suspiciously.

Some of my favorite memories of Aunt Sally

September 13, 2020

Aunt Sally was full of Surprises: I will never forget the big surprise AS gave us when we came to visit one time. I think I was 7 years old. We all went out for a seafood dinner (duh) and when we left the restaurant she had surprised us with a limo!!! The limo drove us around DC so we could see the monuments all lit up. I remember feeling like a princess in that limo.

Aunt Sally and her crab fest's: Aunt Sally had the best and biggest crab fest's! Every time she would always provide the biggest feast to everyone that came through her doors. Those blue crabs were always so delicious!! And with each crab fest, there was the famous crab hat that we always had to wear when we were at her house. Love that hat!

Aunt Sally the Party Queen: Aunt Sally knew how to party! One example was Becky’s football birthday! She had all of Becky’s friends and family tailgate before the Badgers game using their RV. AS made that day so special for everyone in attendance all to celebrate Becky.

A second example is when she planned a family reunion to Upstate New York. AS put together such a fun family reunion for all of us to celebrate Nain and Taid and create new memories with everyone.

Aunt Sally and her Gifts: We always knew it was a gift from AS because of the wrapping. Everything was in a shiny bag. She always put our gifts in a fancy bag. I will never forget one year AS gave my sister Becky a bedazzled jacket and matching hat. I was so jealous of her gift. Becky was a good big sister and let me wear the outfit around the house as much as I wanted because I loved it so much.

Aunt Sally and her big Heart: Aunt Sally and her big Heart: She always made you feel so special every time you were in her presence. I would often bring friends with me when I would visit and she always treated them as if they were part of the family, too. She would even have tricks up her sleeve for people she just met! But it wasn’t her surprises or gifts that made you feel special, but the way she looked at you and connected with you. Aunt Sally just had that special light that made you glow when you were around her.

Washington Visit

September 10, 2020

Dear Ted and Williams Family,

Shirley and I were saddened to hear about the passing of Sally. My mom had been keeping us in the loop concerning her struggles with the brain tumor. We were aware that Beth Hawley had a similar situation that required surgery and resulted in a positive outcome. We were hoping for a similar positive outcome for Sally. I had a conversation with my Mom about a week before her passing, when she let us know that the situation was as grave as it was.

Shirley and I didn’t get to spend tons of time with Sally and Ted, but we do have several fond memories. In the early 90’s when Shirley was just starting out her career in telecom, Lucent technologies had a pretty generous travel budget. We didn’t have a lot of resources back then, and we were able to plan our vacations around some of the traveling that Shirley got to do to New York, Miami, Chicago, and Washington DC. On the trip to Washington we let Sally and Ted know that we were going to be in the area and asked if they wanted to get together. The weekend that we arrived they were out of town, but they let us stay at their house for a couple of days on our own. They returned home on Sunday and made us the best meal of Chesapeake Bay crabs along with other native cuisine. It was an awesome meal and a great start to what was a very memorable trip. And of course it was great to reconnect with everyone in Clintonville, New York a few years back.

Thank you all for sharing the your pictures in the video tribute. It was great to see Sally and all of you through the years. There is a strong family resemblance and you are a good looking crew. Like me, I am sure you are all reflecting family, time, and how quickly it all goes. I hope to see more of you guys, and Shirley and I are thinking of you all as you go through this difficult period. Our Condolences.

Love

Clark and Shirley Grogan

How I Met Sarah

August 29, 2020

I was in Madison, WI in the late 70s when I got a job with the State Department of Justice. I was assigned to the Southern District Office of the Department of Natural Resources on a special study. I was given a small table in front of a disabled (now challenged) lady in a wheel chair on my first day there. I asked her if they had coffee any place and she said yes, upstairs. She totally expected me to ask her if I could get a cup of coffee for her. However, in my jokester mood, I simply turned around and went upstairs and got myself a cup of coffee, came back to my table totally ignoring her. I could feel her insulted feeling without looking at her. After a minute, I turned around to her and said "So what would you like in your coffee?" She said "YOU, YOU, I have someone you need to meet." That was Sarah!! The rest is history.

The Rivalry

August 18, 2020

We shared a mostly friendly Redskins/Cowboys rivalry for many years. When we visited Cheverly, I usually managed to stash a Cowboys themed item for Sal to find while we were there. She sent me Redskins items, including the T-shirt shown in the Gallery. After I retired and had more time to plot, the intensity level got raised. The high point in my memory is the Thanksgiving when I enlisted son-in-law Jim Ivy to impersonate a Washington sportscaster. Before the days of Caller I.D. on the land line, we called her and Jim fed her a spiel about a fictional contest awarding Redskins game tickets to a lucky fan who could recall the score from the most recent game. She bit hard and I came on the line to give her the bad news that there were no tickets, but there was a Gotcha. This prank was not well received.

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