Sandra Brian Lore

Sandra Brian Lore, a wife, mom, sister, granny, aunt, friend, weaver, amateur fiddler, political activist, and writer of random thoughts died on August 20. Sandy was born in Sterling, Illinois on Good Friday, April 7, 1939, to Walter Brian and Zella (Amsbaugh) Brian. She graduated from Plainfield High School, attended Northwestern University, and graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University.

After marrying Mark Lore in 1964, she and Mark moved near Ft. Meade, Maryland where Mark finished his Army duty before joining the Foreign Service. The following January their peripatetic life began. She left the Senate Democratic Policy Committee on Capitol Hill, and in the next 18 months moved four times from Maryland to Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia and then to Luanda, Angola where they lived for two years.

Sandy worked in various embassies, filled in for vacationers, produced embassy newsletters, served as the community liaison officer in Portugal and volunteered for various causes at home and abroad. She started weaving in the 1970s while living in Brussels. In addition to Rio and Luanda, there were tours in Brasilia, Rabat, Brussels, Lisbon, Madison (Wisconsin) and Newport (Rhode Island). Through it all, she mothered two wonderful children, Christopher Wade and Camille Susanne Lore.

Life after the foreign service and retirement in Winchester got Sandy back into fiddling (a childhood challenge). Fiddling with various groups and being active in local organizations such as the Coalition for Racial Unity, PFLAG and the Unitarian Church of the Shenandoah Valley contributed to her happy retirement. She became a lifelong member of the NAACP. Other favorite activities were volunteering at the Highland Food Pantry and working to elect Democrats. She loved writing with a Writers Group for over 20 years. The First Friday Lunch Bunch was a special group of friends who had met for the last 15 years to discuss world affairs and national politics.

She is survived by her husband Mark, her son Chris (Barbara), her daughter Camille (Kelly) and her grandson James Edwin. Her parents and her brother Doug predeceased her. Her youngest brother Michael Edwin Brian (Karen) lives in Lindale, Texas. She had several nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, delightful cousins, and wonderful friends.

Memorial Service will be September 14, 2024, at 3:00pm   at the Unitarian Church of the Shenandoah Valley (UUCSV).

Donations in her name may be made to the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley, PO Box 1574, 6380 Valley Pike, Stephens City, VA 22655 ( www.uushenandoah.org ); or to the Winchester Area NAACP, PO Box 2365, Winchester, VA 22604 ( naacpwinchesterarea.com).

Ministry of Comfort Entrusted to

Cartwright Funeral Home

Winchester, VA

cartwrightfuneralhome.com