Sandy Anne Kessler

Sandy Kessler passed away Tuesday, July 21, 2026, after a very brief battle with cancer. She leaves behind many loved ones, including her husband David, her children, Wallace and Goldie, her sister Violet, and her five grandchildren, Benjamin, Wesley, Annadelle, Indie and Bodhi - as well her nephews Anthony and Evan, her nieces Rachel, Tess, Brooke and Summer, and countless friends and family. Her biggest regret in her last days was that she would not get to spend more time with all those she loved.

Sandy was born in Fredericksburg and grew up in Virginia, where she attended the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Staunton. She was still close with many of the friends she made there, seeing them often individually or at local “Happy Hands” and “Freddies” gatherings, and at the Richmond Club of the Deaf and VSDB Alumni Association events.

Born Sandy Shiflett, she met David while working at the Daily Progress in Charlottesville in 1987. In 1989, she packed her bags and headed for California, boarding a greyhound bus when the car broke down and making her way across the country with her two young children in tow. The Kessler family - David’s parents, Pat and Rick, and his siblings, Ron, Elizabeth and Michael - welcomed them in, and she always remained grateful to them for accepting her and for the difference that made in her life.

She and David were married in 1992. Among other jobs, she worked as an advocate for the Deaf community at the Greater Los Angeles Area Council on Deafness while raising Wally and Goldie in nearby Simi Valley and helping to care for her genius niece, Rachel.

When the children left home, she and David headed for Australia and the South Pacific, where they lived for a year, until they returned home and moved back to Fredericksburg to help raise their genius grandchild, Benjamin.

Sandy lived in Fredericksburg with David and various combinations of Ben, Goldie, and two of her other genius grandchildren, Wesley and Annadelle, since 2004, but she still loved to travel, roaming the country and the world with her family and friends whenever she got the chance.

She was excited about the trip she was on to Orlando with all of her children and grandchildren in June, but ended up in the hospital, where doctors discovered fractured vertebrae caused by metastasized biliary cancer. She returned home ready to fight the disease, but it was already spreading rapidly, and her condition quickly worsened. She passed away at Mary Washington hospital a few weeks later.

Sandy was a truly good person who will be missed by all who knew her. Please join us for a Celebration of Life to honor her on August 22 at 11 a.m. in the Rappahannock Room at Brock’s Grill, 503 Sophia St., Fredericksburg.

Sandy always tried to enjoy life, and pictures from her time with family and friends can be found at www.sandykessler.life.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Sandy Kessler to the Richmond Club of the Deaf, PO Box 772, Mechanicsville, VA 23111, or to the Virginia School for the Deaf Alumni Association (https://VSDAA.org or $vsdaa10 at cash app).

Official obituary at Found and Sons