Obituary of Delia Sales

During her 102 years, Delia, called Nanny by her family and friends, lived a full life. She was born in New York City on May 15, 1921 to Italian parents. She lost her mother at age three and she and her brother were raised on a rustic farm by their aunt and grandmother while their dad worked in New York City in an Italian restaurant. At age 11 her father, hoping to move back to his home town in northern Italy, enrolled her and her brother into separate Italian boarding schools. At the end of the school year she and Aldo returned to the United States and moved in with their father.

Over the years Nanny achieved many accomplishments including assistant to a famous New York dress designer, Jessie Franklyn Turner, where she learned expert sewing skills that served her throughout her life. She became a bookkeeper, assisted her father in his five star New York restaurant and volunteered as an Air Raid Warden in World War II. In 1947 she married and spent the next 22 years raising her four children and traveling the world as a U.S. diplomat’s wife. She retired from the banking industry and spent her remaining years volunteering at Pender United Methodist Church and caring for and helping to raise her many grandchildren. 

She had a tender trust in the Lord and grew in her faith until her last days. She died of a long full life, her beautiful heart finally giving out. 

She is predeceased by her two daughters, Denise and Michele. She leaves behind her two sons, Richard and his wife, Elaine, and Robert and his wife, Kim, thirteen grandchildren, thirty-three great grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren. Her legacy of strength and endurance, patience and long suffering will influence generations to come. She will be greatly missed.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2:30 pm on Sunday, August 20, 2023 at Pender United Methodist Church, located at 12402 Alder Woods Dr., Fairfax, VA 22033.