Sandra Shanley

Sandra Shanley of Hicksville, NY was born July 5th 1946 in the city of Birmingham, England. She was the seventh child born in a family of thirteen children to Alfred and Amy Coles. She came from humble beginnings where she learned the value of working hard from a young age with her siblings. They were a very tight knit and close family, with lots of love and laughter. Many a time when they were together, the night would end in a sing song. Sandra adored all of her nieces and nephews. She had her daughter Nicola Stamatinos in 1969. It was only the two of them for many years. She made many happy memories together with her daughter and the rest of the family. While she sometimes had nothing to give, she would still give you the shirt off her back if you needed it.

She remarried in 1982 to Gerald Shanley. Sandra found herself moving across the Atlantic for love to Hicksville, New York. They became a blended family with her stepson, Terrence. Sandra and Gerald were married for 33 years until he passed in 2015. She was a devoted wife. Her house was an open door to friends and strangers, where she had made a house a home. She enjoyed decorating, going to tag sales and finding antiques at bargain prices. She loved her morning tea and to cook and bake. You could often hear opera music playing with the smell of a roast cooking when you walked into her house. She would hold prayer meetings for the church and always lend a listening ear. She was loving and funny, naive and kind.

While always being a faithful and spiritual person, in her later years she became a devout Catholic. She was welcomed into the community at St. Ignatius where she found much comfort and many friends.

December 19 2012 was one of her proudest days , the day she became an American citizen. Sandra had fallen in love with the USA the first time she visited.

Sandra is survived by her children Nicola and Jerry Stamatinos, and stepson Terence Shanley, her grandchildren Eleni and Dean Valenti, and George Stamatinos, and her great grandchildren. As well as her sisters Beryl Clark, Carole Hoosack and brother Dennis Coles, and a great many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested a donation to your favorite charity.

A visitation for Sandra will be held at the Vernon C. Wagner Funeral Home in Hicksville, NY on Tuesday, January 6, 2026 from 8:45am - 10:45am. A mass of Christian burial will commence at 11:15am at St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church in Hicksville, followed by interment at Calverton National Cemetery.