Sandra W. Fillichio

Born in Chicago, the middle of three daughters of Jules and Marguerite (Marge) Wayne, Sandy grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. An accomplished equestrian in her youth, she won dozens of blue ribbons in horse competitions throughout Chicago. But it was during her teenage years where her star really began to burn bright. She and her sisters—“the fabulous Wayne girls”—were known for their beauty and charm . . . and their unique ways of making an entrance. For example, during their annual summer vacations at Michigan’s Portage Lake, Jules would ferry his daughters by speed boat to the Pavilion Dance held on Saturday nights. But with a twist With their high heels in hand, Sandy and her sisters water skied to the pavilion, arriving with not a hair out of place and their party dresses amazingly dry.

After making her debut and graduating from Oak Park-River Forest High School in 1959, she went to work for TWA in downtown Chicago. Two years later, she married her high school sweetheart, Benedict “Butch” Fillichio. With a desire to start a family right away, Christoper Benedict, Carl Anthony, Carolynne and Cherise Ann came in short order. ”All I ever really wanted was to be a mother,” Sandy once confided. The family settled in Chicago’s North Side.

In 1973 the Fillichios moved to Boca Raton, Florida and Sandy devoted herself to family and volunteerism. She was active in her children’s school, Saint Joan of Arc, and was a popular and respected coach of the Boca Raton Jets Football & Cheerleader program. She is credited with introducing Miss Piggy and the “funky chicken” into the local youth sports group’s half time shows (she often wore the costume and played the role or enlisted one of her children to “volunteer”).

She also held a leadership role in raising funds for the construction of what is now the Saint John Paul II High School in Boca Raton. As her children got older, she entered the workforce full time, and was employed in the industrial lighting industry, residential kitchen manufacturing and at a legal firm in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Sandy retired in 2017 and moved to Stuart, building memories with a cadre of close friends in her community, keeping in touch with long standing friends and family members, following in the adventures of her grandchildren and enjoying long walks with her beloved dog, Angel.

She is survived by her sisters, Lynn Lowd and Georgene Wayne; sons Christopher Fillichio (Davina), and Carl Fillichio; daughter Cherise Jennette (Mark Wyatt); and grandchildren Giovanni Fillichio (Patricia Martinez Pinto), Massimo Fillichio (Daniela Zamora), Claira Jennette (Clayton Satterfield) and Nicholas Jennette (Alessandra Solomon). In 2022 Sandy welcomed the birth of her first great-grandchild, Paloma Giovanna Fillichio.

Her daughter Carolynne predeceased her in 2015.

A celebration of Sandy’s life will be held on Monday, December 1 from 11:00am to noon at the Aycock Funeral Home Young & Prill Chapel, located at 6801 SE Federal Highway in Stuart.

A reception will follow from 12:30 to 3:30pm at The Dolphin Bar & Shrimp House (formerly Frances Langford’s) located at 1401 NE Indian River Drive in Jenson Beach.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that those who wish to honor Sandy’s memory call (not text) an individual dear to them and express their love.