Sandra Elizabeth Schwab Cammarano

Sandra “Sandy” (Schwab) Cammarano died on November 9th, 2025 in the loving company and care of her children. She was born 87 years earlier to Albert G. and Isabel Schwab in Patton, PA. Her older sister Suzann welcomed Sandy to the family with her sunshine of a smile which the two sisters always shared and with which they most assuredly welcomed their younger brother Albert D. “Bud” Schwab when he completed the family soon after. By then the family had already relocated to Federal Way, Washington where Sandy spent her childhood

Sandy attended Federal Way High-school (1956) and then the University of Washington where she graduated with a degree in Textiles in 1960. Somewhere in there, mixed in among all of the many friendships and dates that such a glowing, beautiful smile and personality facilitates she met a tall-ish, dark and curly-haired-handsome young man named William B. “Bill” Cammarano, Jr. Some rumors hint that they met as fellow congregants at church, that Bill may have dated her sister Suzann, that Bill and Sandy had their first kiss on the beach at Brown’s Point looking across the bay at their future home in Tacoma. What is certain is that they fell in love, married in 1960, moved to Tacoma, started a family, and continued a deeply loving relationship lasting the rest of their lives.

A bit after that first kiss, Sandy and Bill had four children; William III, M. Stephen, Dina and Andrew. As a mother, Sandy had the often under-appreciated skill of loving and nurturing her children as unique individuals while simultaneously allowing their aggregate personality of continuous wisecracks, daring-do and pugilism to exist within safe boundaries. One notable asset was her friendly, quick wit that always kept her children laughing and could stop tears cold in their tracks. When family access was suddenly denied to a favorite beach by a new property owner, Sandy quickly composed a catchy jingle about imperious property owners that left her four kids in stitches. Those four continue to survive and thrive as a result of this loving, balanced nurture aided by the sense of humor they share with her.

Sandy loved crafts of all sorts. (At one point turning the basement into a veritable candle-making factory). Above all she loved sewing, knitting, textiles and fashion. She dressed with magnificent vibrancy but never ostentatiously. Perhaps more than sewing she loved shopping for fabric and yarn and patterns for new outfits. With baby Andrew crawling underfoot she taught sewing from home to support that habit. She grew up working and derived joy and a sense of purpose from it and entered a happy chapter of her life when she re-joined the workforce with a position in the accounting department of the family business.

In every avenue of her life— church, work, children’s school, tennis— Sandy made friends— she made so many beloved friends across all of her circles and she maintained them across the decades. Entire pads of paper would often be filled with her happy doodles following a long phone conversation with this or that friend. She loved to entertain and her dinner parties were filled with warmth and laughter.

When the working years wound down, the grandchildren began to arrive and Sandy surprised no one by inhabiting this role with the same love and passion she put into all of her relationships. Like her four children, her six adult grandchildren live and thrive due in no small part to the love and comfort (and knitted sweaters and caps) she always provided. Sandy’s last months were blessed to include the joyous addition of a great-grandson and great-granddaughter whom she was able to tenderly hold and gift with her glowing smile.

Finally, as a longtime Seattle Mariners baseball fan, Sandy would have preferred to leave us knowing they had earned a pennant. Maybe next year mom!

Sandra is survived, and sorely missed, by her four children; William III (Clare), M. Stephen (Lisa), Dina (Mark) and Andrew, her grandchildren; LaRae, Chanel, Colin, Jasmine, Bianca and Giada, Maxine, River and Skylar and her great-grandchildren; Cody and Lucia.

A funeral mass will be held on Thursday, December 4th at 11am at Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church, 1123 North J Street, Tacoma. Reception to follow immediately at the church. In lieu of flowers please send donations in Sandy’s name to a charity she long supported through the annual “RAGS” fundraiser; YWCA Pierce County (ywcapiercecounty.org).