Former Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal passed away on Tuesday after a battle with breast cancer that metastasized into brain cancer.
According to a statement from her family, the former educator and Gainesville native was surrounded by former Gov. Nathan Deal and her family when she passed away at her home in Demorest.
In the statement, the Deal family said they knew the time was coming and they were grateful to spend time with Mrs. Deal during her remaining months.
“We are grieving but celebrate her life and the example she set,” the Deal family said in the statement. “A woman of unshakeable Christian faith, she did not fear death because she had no doubts about her ultimate destination and knew that we’d all come together one day.”
Before she became Georgia’s First Lady in 2011, Mrs. Deal taught language arts in Hall County. During her time as First Lady, she read to students in all 159 of Georgia’s counties and 181 school districts.
Phillip Wilheit, Gov. Deal’s longtime friend and campaign manager, said teaching was her passion.
“She delivered on our promise,” Wilheit said. “She read to every school district in the state, I think twice. She got it done once and she started over again and she touched a lot of lives.”
Mrs. Deal was a two-time graduate of what eventually became Georgia College & State University. The college created the Sandra Dunnagan Deal Center For Early Language and Literacy in 2017 to further Mrs. Deal’s mission to improve Georgia children's literacy rates.
Gov. Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp said their family was “truly heartbroken” to learn about Mrs. Deal’s passing. In a statement, the Kemp family commended her education efforts and her overall character.
"That same level of genuine kindness was a fixture in her life, especially where her family was concerned,” the statement from Gov. Kemp’s office said. “Mother to four children and grandmother to six, she loved her family dearly, including her parents whom she took in and cared for when they endured poor health until their own passing.”
Attorney General Chris Carr also offered his condolences to the Deal family.
“She could turn a stranger into a friend by the end of a conversation, and when it came to Georgia's students, Mrs. Deal had an uncanny ability to connect with them in a way that only our favorite teachers can do,” Carr said. “As one of our greatest standard-bearers for childhood literacy, her light shone brightest when she was in the classroom.”
