Delma Mary Volpe Sled, age 83 of Glendale, Arizona, passed on October 10, 2014, after a ten-year battle with leukemia.
Delma was born on July 8, 1931, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island to mother, Mary Bonollo Volpe and father, Carlos Mariano Volpe. In January, 1959, Delma, her husband and six children moved from Akron, Ohio to Phoenix, Arizona. Another child, Scott, was born in Phoenix. Delma began a long association with the semi-conductor industry, working for Motorola. After divorcing, Delma moved to Florida for a brief period and then to San Jose, California. She continued to work in the semi-conductor industry in Silicon Valley, first as a line worker, then supervisor, and ultimately, a general foreman for National Semiconductor. During this time, she met her future partner, Jerry Sled in 1976. Delma had a love for learning, and went to night school, where she earned her AA degree in Business Administration in 1981. In 1982, she became co-founder and head of manufacturing for start-up company Synsem, Inc. Delma retired in June of 1983.
Retirement brought new adventures in Delma's life. Although deathly afraid of water, she went to the YMCA and learned to swim, and then attended years of water aerobic classes through the adult education program. She volunteered at a local hospital for over a year. Delma then decided to return to work part-time for an independent mail service business in Santa Clara, CA . Delma's passion was gardening and keystone in her life. While most settle to have a garden, Delma became a "Master Gardener" by attending classes through the University of California. The Master Gardener Program is sponsored by state universities in every state of the USA. As a Master Gardener she taught kids at local grade schools about gardening, composting, worm composting, and started gardens at their schools. The kids called her the "worm lady.” She volunteered over 1,000 hours through the Master Gardener Program. Delma then went to work as Office Manager at the University of California Agricultural Bay Area Research & Extension Center (BAREC) in Santa Clara, CA.
In March, 2001, Delma left California to oversee the construction of her and her husband Jerry’s dream retirement home, designed by them in Phoenix, Arizona. Her husband, Jerry, retired and joined her when it was completed. After her dream home was finished, she became restless and went to work as a personal trainer on the early morning shift at a nearby Curves. Delma’s accomplished, impressive work and volunteer career is what many only dream of doing. She did her way.
Delma had a vast array of hobbies. She could grow anything and her flowers would bloom (especially violets) where others would fail. She was an exquisite seamstress, needle worker, and quilter. She was at her best when teaching her crafts to anyone who wanted to learn. Her kitchen was her heaven on earth where she would cook her culinary delights for family and friends. Friends and family showered her with gifts of giraffes, because of her love and appreciation of the elegance and beauty of giraffes. Delma's giraffe collection adorned her home and gave her great comfort and pleasure in her last months.
Her youngest son, Scott, precedes Delma in death. She is survived by her loving husband, Jerry Sled; brother Charles Volpe and wife, Linda of Rhode Island. Delma's "treasures" as she fondly described her children are: Tina and husband, Doug Smith; Theresa and husband, Paul Bache; Ted Williams and wife, Stacy; Brian Williams; Mary Ann Williams and companion Scott Tedrow; Gary Williams and wife, Tracy; Sean Sled; and Chris Sled and wife, Gina. Her greatest "jewels" are her 16 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren (with another jewel in the very near future). Delma has a sizeable extended family of nieces, nephews, sister-in-laws, brother-in-laws, cousins and many endeared friends.
Services will be held Saturday, October 25, 2014 at Phoenix Memorial Park & Mortuary; 200 West Beardsley Road; Phoenix, AZ 85027 (623-434-7000). Visitation will be 11:00 - 2:00 with a Celebration of Life Ceremony following the visitation.
The family welcomes you to share your memories and condolences for Delma, Del, and "Grani" in her online memory book:
http://www.phoenixmemorialmortuary.com, Click on Delma Sled (copy and paste the URL to your web browser)
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations in Delma Sled's name be made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society:
https://donate.lls.org/lls/donate (copy and paste the URL to your web browser)
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