Sally Ellen Avery, born November 11, 1943, to Dr. S. Donald and Dorothy Avery of Easton, PA, passed away on May 16, 2021.
She graduated from Moravian Academy in 1961 and Temple University School of Oral Hygiene in 1963. Sally was a dental hygienist for Bethlehem Area School District 1964-1971, Easton Hospital Dental Clinic manager 1983-1992, and many private dental offices in Easton and Bethlehem, PA. She raised two boys as a single mom for many years, working hard to make ends meet through her determination and multiple side jobs. Sally was active and healthy her whole life, beginning with competitive swimming in her youth, joining the aerobics craze in the 1980s, and logging countless miles of biking and walking well into her golden years.
Throughout her life, she traveled the world and, in recent years, hit the road in an RV to see many corners of North America. Sally enjoyed crafts and knitting for many years. She made beautiful needlepoint art, blankets, sweaters, and other gifts for friends and relatives. She loved roses and cultivated them along with vegetables of all kinds in the summer sun of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She loved to bake and perfected her Christmas sugar and molasses cookies over decades sharing sweets as gifts to her loved ones. The beach was her happy place where she loved to swim, collect shells and sea glass, or read for hours listening to the waves crash. She spent many summers in Beach Haven, NJ with her two boys and later years enjoying days at Casey Key, FL. She flourished in retirement in The Villages, FL, where she enjoyed tennis, golf, dancing, and playing cards with her new community of friends.
She is survived by her two sons, John Field Oldt, II, of Allentown, PA, and Avery Fox Oldt, of Mill Valley, CA, his wife Cortney and their two daughters Annika and Mara, her long-term companion Thomas Withee, and her adopted cat Callie. Sally is also survived by her older sister Susan Cobb, younger brother Scott Avery, and many cherished nieces and nephews. Her younger sister Sandra Titus passed away early this year. Sally passed peacefully with loved ones by her side after a long brave fight with cancer. Interment will be at Northampton Memorial Shrine, Easton, PA.
