Sally was born in Philadelphia PA to parents James Paul Frankenfield and Anna Fisher Walraven Frankenfield. Sally graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls in the Spring of 1943 where she was greatly influenced by the forward-thinking women who taught and inspired the students there. She went on to the Philadelphia College of Art (then known as the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art) where she studied illustration. In her senior year she met Carmine Paul LaBrasca there, who had just returned from serving in the Army in the South Pacific during WWII. Sally and Carmine were married on July 31, 1949.
Sally was a very creative person. She loved to sew, starting as a young girl making many of her own clothes based on designs she saw in fashion magazines. She also used her love of fashion in her position as a window dresser for Strawbridge’s department store where she worked until she married. She continued to use her many talents to decorate the warm and colorful home she and Carmine created for their 5 children. Later, she joined the staff at the Easter Seals Pre-School in Levittown as an educational assistant. She loved making costumes and scenery for their class plays, and crafts and gifts for the families, and always felt she made an impact there.
Sally was an only child but had many friends that were like family, including the sisters in her high school sorority with whom she stayed close throughout her life. She served as a canteen hostess at dances held in Philadelphia for the servicemen who were stationed there during WWII, where she exercised her gift of hospitality and her love of dancing. She and Carmine were part of a close knit group of friends, many of whom were artists and illustrators and photographers in the Philadelphia area. Sally was also an avid reader and loved the time she spent with the women she met later in life through the book club at the public library.
Sally was preceded in death by her husband, Carmine LaBrasca, and her parents Paul and Anna Frankenfield. She is survived by her 5 children: Judith Anne LaBrasca (Jeffrey Kellar), Marc Paul LaBrasca (Mary LaBrasca), Catherine Alexander (Bruce Alexander), Anthony David LaBrasca (Janie LaBrasca), and John Vincent LaBrasca (Katie Qun Wang) and her 11 Grandchildren and 1 Great Grandchild: Anna Kellar, Christine Walsh (Gerald Walsh), Emma Walsh, Elizabeth LaBrasca, Michael LaBrasca (Cara Meyer), Daniel Alexander (Stephanie Alexander), Chelsea Alexander, John Alexander, Peter Alexander (Anna Catherine Alexander), Magee Gavin (Grace Watkins), Joseph LaBrasca, and Carmina LaBrasca
A memorial gathering for family and friends will be held on Friday, January 31, 2025, from 10:00 am until 12 noon at the James J. Dougherty Funeral Home, 2200 Trenton Road, Levittown, PA. A funeral service will begin at 12 noon. Burial will follow at Newtown Cemetery, Newtown, PA.
