MORRISONVILLE — Sandra Jean Tavernia, 75, of Route 22 B died Thursday, September 1, 2022, at CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh, surrounded by family and joining the love of her life a decade after he left this earth.

She was born in Plattsburgh on June 21, 1947, the daughter of Raymond and Margaret

(LaDue) Sherman, and graduated from Saranac High School in 1965.

That year, she met Bernard Tavernia, with whom she would spend her life. Both worked at

the Neisner Brothers department store in Plattsburgh — he in the stockroom, she in the

shoe department. On their first date, Bernie, as he was known, drove her to his hometown

of Constable, N.Y., for his family's traditional Sunday baseball game. A cousin told her she

must be special because he had never let a girl sit on the bench.

She graduated from Our Lady of Victory Secretarial School in Plattsburgh in 1966. She

and Bernie were married Sept. 9, 1967, at St. Alexander's Church in Morrisonville, where

they would become regular parishioners.

The night he proposed, they stopped at a payphone to give their parents the news, full of

excitement.

For years she and Bernie lived with little, moving between seven states as he took jobs

managing retail stores. Along the way they had two children, James and Lynn.

The family moved to Morrisonville in 1976, where Sandy, as she was called, lived the rest

of her life.

She spent the bulk of her career at the Plattsburgh Press-Republican newspaper, working

in advertising from 1985 until her retirement in 2010.

Sandy enjoyed vacationing to the Dominican Republic and Florida, supporting her

grandchildren and visiting her son's deli for special olive and cream cheese sandwiches.

She was an avid fan of her grandchildren's gymnastics, football, baseball, hockey and

soccer teams. She and Bernie made a ritual of Sunday breakfast with friends after Mass.

The couple liked occasional visits to casinos, too. As a retiree, she loved spending extra

time with family and friends, volunteering at her church and relaxing at home with books

and coffee.

After Bernie's death Dec. 29, 2012, she kept a note from him in her nightstand to read on

hard days. "If something ever happens to me you keep going for those kids and grandkids

and believe that someday you'll see my love again," he wrote in that letter.

Now she has.

Survivors include son James R. (Jim) Tavernia of Peru; daughter-in-law Polly Tavernia of

Peru; daughter Lynn M. and son-in-law David Trombly of Chazy; grandsons Justin and

Nathan Trombly of Burlington, Vt., and Chazy, respectively; granddaughter Sarah Tavernia

and companion Seth Schaefer of Peru; grandson Michael Tavernia of Peru;

great-granddaughter Jacklyn of Peru; brother-in-law Kenneth Tavernia and wife Joanne of

Naples, Fla.; sister-in-law Deborah Foote and husband James Seeber of Massena;

sisters-in-law Brenda Fleury of Constable and Susan Tavernia of Albany; adopted sister

Jane "Josie" Way; and several nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

She was predeceased by her parents, husband and brothers-in-law Daniel Fleury and R.

Palmer Foote.

Calling hours will be held Wednesday, September 7th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at R.W. Walker Funeral Home in Plattsburgh.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. the next day, Thursday at St. Alexander's Church in Morrisonville.  Burial will follow in the parish cemetery.

Memorial donations can be sent to St. Alexander's Church in Morrisonville. To share a

photo, story or condolence with the family, please visit rwwalkerfh.com

Arrangements are in the care of the R.W. Walker Funeral Home 69 Court Street, Plattsburgh, NY.