Lillian Sands, nee Abrami, 94, of Lenexa, Kansas, died Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at Santa Marta Senior Living of Olathe, surrounded by family. Visitation will be from 12-1:00 PM Wednesday, July 15, at Porter Funeral Home, 8535 Monrovia, Lenexa, KS. Entombment will follow at Resurrection Cemetery. The family suggests in leiu of flowers memorial contributions to Alzheimer’s Association or World Kitchen.
Lillian was born on March 14, 1926 in Algiers, Algeria on the Mediterranean Sea. While working in the PX of the US Military base there, she met Richard Earl “Sandy” Sands, a young soldier stationed there. They wed in October of 1945. Following the war, with $3 in her pocket, she traveled alone to the United States to reunite with Earl in Kansas City, KS, where they happily lived for 59 years. Lillian enjoyed working in retail, notably at Harzfeld’s and Helzberg’s, before moving to and retiring from the VA after more than 20 years of government service. In her retirement, she returned to retail, working at Saks Fifth Avenue, Jacobson’s and Hall’s before finally retiring for good in 2009. Along with her love of working retail, she enjoyed traveling to France to spend time with her mother, many siblings, nieces and nephews there, mainly in the town of Avon near the Forest of Fontainbleau. She spent her final years enjoying her grandchildren, meeting her great-grandchildren, and fondly remembering her youth in Algiers. She was preceded in death by her husband Earl, daughter Michelle, her parents, siblings and nephew. She is survived by her daughters, Linda and Mary Beth, both of Lenexa, two grandchildren, Emily Smith, of Overland Park, KS, and Griffin Middendorf, of Gardner, KS, three great-grandchildren, a number of nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews, neighbors and friends, all of whom she loved deeply. She will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved her.
Her family wishes to extend their deepest gratitude to the Staff of Santa Marta Health Plaza and Crossroads Hospice for the care and compassion they showed Lillian in her final years, days and hours.