Adele “Del” Sanderson

Adele “Del” Sanderson, 93, of New Castle, Delaware passed away peacefully surrounded by family on January 31, 2022.

Adele was born and raised in Berwick, Pennsylvania. She was the youngest of five siblings, Dominic, Louis, Guilio (“Chick”), and Jennie. She graduated from Berwick High School before going on to the Western Union school in New Jersey. She met and married her husband Harold when she moved to Delaware to work for the Western Union Telegraph Company. She worked as a delivery supervisor there for many years. She later enjoyed a career in catering with Silver Servers Catering.

Adele was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She took much pride in her Italian heritage, especially as a first-generation American. Her parents John Mazzochetti and Anna diBlasio emigrated to the US in the early 1900’s. She was always a brilliant story-teller, regaling friends and family with her childhood memories. She enjoyed cooking and baking, carrying on many of her mother’s incredible Italian recipes. She loved to host large family dinners on holidays and visit family in Berwick for Thanksgiving feasts. She also loved to play card games with family and friends.

Adele loved spending summers at the family beach house in Fenwick Island, where she could be found picking crabs and enjoying time with friends. Many of her winters were spent as a snowbird, visiting family and friends in Florida. Her most favorite travel memory was visiting Italy and meeting many of her relatives.

Adele was preceded in death by her husband of 73 years, Harold Sanderson, who passed away about a month prior in December 2021. Harold and Adele were the quintessential couple, soul mates always doting after one another. The two were inseparable. Adele often said the key to a long marriage was that back in her day you fixed things rather than throwing them away.

Adele was also preceded in death by her parents and siblings; three of her sons, Franklin, John, and Kent Sanderson, all of whom passed in 2021; and grandson Suksan Senakit. She is survived by her son Thomas, with whom she lived; daughter-in-law Gail Sanderson of Wilmington; Grandchildren Beverly and Bill Knotts of Hockessin, Amy and David Kohl of New Castle, Karin and Leslie Donovan of Milford, and Kampan Senakit of Panama City, Florida; and many beloved great-grandchildren.

Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service for Adele, Harold, John, and Kent on Saturday April 2, 2022 at Chandler Funeral Home, 7230 Lancaster Pike, Hockessin, DE 19707. Visitation will be 9:30-10:30am, with services at 10:30am.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Adele’s memory to Easterseals Delaware & Maryland’s Easter Shore, 61 Corporate Circle, New Castle, DE 19720. www.easterseals.com/de