Sandra R. Graham

Sandra R. "Sandy" Graham, known to many as the longtime hostess and manager of The Coventry Tea Room restaurant, passed away peacefully in the arms of her husband, Earl, on June 18, 2019 at her home in South Coventry Township, Chester County, Pa. after a lengthy illness. She was 81 years old. Mrs. Graham was born in Philadelphia, the oldest child of Louis and Helen (Albertini) Frederick. When she was a young child, her family moved to Upper Darby and later to Newtown Square, Pa. She was a 1956 graduate of Marple-Newtown High School, where she was a straight-A student and inducted into the National Honor Society. Sandy met her future husband, W. Earl Graham Jr., in June 1952 in Ocean City, NJ -- the start of a love story that spanned more than six decades. She was 14 years old and he was 15. The pair dated exclusively through their high school years; Sandy worked as a secretary for The Federal National Mortgage Association in Philadelphia while Earl finished college at the University of Delaware. Three months after his 1958 graduation, they were married at St. Anastasia R.C. Church in Newtown Square, Pa. After their marriage, the couple lived in Irvington, NJ and Wilmington, DE before settling, in 1966, in South Coventry, Chester County, PA, where Sandy's parents had purchased a 22-acre colonial-era farm a few years earlier. The Grahams bought a portion of that land and built the home where they raised their three children. In 2007, Earl and Sandy purchased a second home in the Legacy Oaks community in Marlton, New Jersey so they could have a residence closer to their children who had moved to South Jersey, and the couple split their time between Chester and Burlington Counties (when they weren't traveling the globe.) With a natural talent for interior decorating, Sandy worked in the 1970s as a design consultant for Sherwin-Williams in Pottstown and as the manager of the furniture department at Hess' in the Coventry Mall. When she and her husband sold their Marlton house in 2015, the residence was so impeccably decorated that nearly every real estate agent and potential buyer who toured the home asked if it had been professionally staged. But it was her 20 years as the smiling face who greeted diners as they entered The Coventry Tea Room that helped to make Sandy a well-known member of the local community. Her brother and their parents opened the restaurant in the 1970s on the first floor of their home on Route 23 in South Coventry, with the motto "a family affair" since every employee was a family member or long-time friend of the Frederick family. Over the course of her years as hostess, Sandy formed many longtime friendships with the restaurant's regulars. Mrs. Graham shared her husband's lifelong passion for baseball, especially the Phillies. From 1996 to 2008 the couple served as MLB volunteers at All-Star Games across the U.S., the highlight of which were their years spent as "crowd wranglers" for the Phillie Phanatic. Sandy's favorite travel destination was Italy, where all four of her grandparents were born. On one trip there, armed solely with her grandmother's 1950s address book, she and Earl were able to find living relatives in 3 towns - including 5 of her parents' first cousins. Even a language barrier couldn't stop Sandy from forming warm and lasting relationships with her newly found family, who knew her as "Alessandra." Perhaps due to her Italian ancestry, Sandy was the epitome of "la bella figura" – she had an impeccable fashion sense, a love of nature's beauty, and an avid appreciation of the arts. She was also a talented pianist with a lovely singing voice, who passed her musical talents to her children and grandchildren. "Nonna" faithfully (and proudly) attended recitals and concerts from preschool through high school, and she was never happier than when all the family was gathered around her piano. She also studied tap-dance through her teenage years, and bought a pair of tap shoes when she was in her 60s so she could entertain her grandchildren! Mrs. Graham was an active member of St. Thomas More R.C. Church in South Coventry, and served as a lector there for many years. She and her husband renewed their wedding vows at St. Thomas More on both their 25th and 50th wedding anniversaries. But Sandy will be remembered by those who knew her best as fun-loving and silly, with a self-deprecating sense of humor. Kind and empathetic, she went out of her way to make the world a happier place for everyone she came into contact with. More than anything, she was the heart of her family – a devoted partner and best-friend to her beloved husband, she was a mother who was unendingly generous with both love and support, a doting grandmother, a patient caregiver for her parents in their later years, and an always-available ear for her siblings, nieces, and nephews. In addition to her adoring husband of almost 61 years, Sandy is survived by her three children - Cindy Graham Chepigan and husband Randy, Denise Graham and partner Kyle Knott, Steve Graham and wife Cindy; by her grandchildren Veronica, Sabrina, Ryan, Julia, and Benjamin; siblings Helen McGlone, Tina (Louie) Bell, and Tom Frederick; sister-in-law Jeanne Graham; and seven nieces and nephews -- all of whom are grateful beyond words for the brightness that Sandy brought into their lives. She will be sorely missed. A funeral mass will be held at St. Thomas More R.C. Church, 2101 Pottstown Pike, Pottstown, PA, on Wednesday June 26, 2019 at 11:30 A.M. with visitation from 10-11:30 A.M. at the church. Burial to follow at St. Peter's UCC Cemetery, Knauertown, PA. Arrangements by Warker-Troutman funeral home.

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