Sally K. Sheperdson (née Sweitzer), of East Warren, died peacefully in the early morning hours of August 10, 2025 at McClure-Miller Respite Home in Colchester, after an almost three-year struggle with glioblastoma (brain cancer).
She was born March 28,1951, and grew up on Pewaukee Lake in Wisconsin, not far from Milwaukee. Her parents were Jim and Diane (aka Dint) Sweitzer.
Sally first came to The Valley in the early ski season of 1977-78 and worked at Walter Ruf’s Inverness Shop in Waitsfield. Before long she met Felix von Moschzisker and moved up to his place on the Senor Road in Warren. They lived together for six years, but things didn’t work out, and Sally eventually left to marry Bill Sheperdson of South Burlington.
The couple moved to Massachusetts and lived there for an extended period during which Sally gave birth to her only child, Mollie, in 1991. She and Sheperdson later divorced.
During her time in Massachusetts Sally went back to college and completed her BA, and also an MA, in nonprofit business management at UMass Amherst. She then launched a decades-long career in fundraising which took her to Wisconsin and New Jersey and then back to Wisconsin.
As anyone who knows Sally can tell you, her cheerful nature, her talent for making friends, her sense of tact, and her total lack of fear at asking people for their money made her uniquely qualified for nonprofit fundraising. Wherever she worked she was successful and highly valued.
In 2018, while living in Wisconsin, a chance connection on Facebook put Sally back in contact with Felix. They hadn’t seen or heard from each other in 35 years. Soon thereafter she landed a job at Burlington City Arts and moved back to Vermont.
At first, Sally lived in a condominium in Burlington’s new north end. But when COVID hit, she moved down to Felix’s place in East Warren to minimize exposure to the pandemic.
After all their time apart, Sally and Felix soon became best friends. Before her illness, they had almost three years together, cooking meals, visiting friends, taking walks on the Senor Road, and touring the dirt roads of north central Vermont.
During this period Sally worked raising money for Yestermorrow School in Warren. She said it was her favorite job ever.
Sally will be remembered by all who knew her for her kindness and over-the-top generosity. She is predeceased by both parents and is survived by her daughter Mollie of London, UK, her brother Paul and his wife Jill of Menomonee Falls, WI, her sister Cindy of North Fayston. VT, her other brother Tom and his wife Sue of Pewaukee, WI, numerous cousins, nieces and nephews, and Felix. She is also survived by canine family member Daisy, now of Menomonee Falls,WI.
A private gathering for friends and family will be held at a later date.
