Fall River – Sandra (Candeias) Augustinho, age 79, passed away peacefully on October 26 ^th .  Born in Fall River, she was the daughter of the late Alvaro and Delia (Ferreira) Candeias.

Sandra worked for over 30 years in the Fall River school system.  She always considered herself extremely fortunate at the beginning of her career to have received extensive training and mentoring from Bank Street College in New York.  Lorraine Smithberg was especially helpful to her during her early career, serving as her mentor for a number of years.  Sandra's career was spent working in the primary grades.  Her passion was in working with emotionally disturbed children.  She was brilliant at her job during the many years that she worked with this population.  Later in her career Sandra extensively studied the then mostly uncharted territory of brain research for a number of years.  She attended a number of brain research seminars, always returning with a wealth of information that she readily shared with colleagues and anyone else interested in the subject.  In her early 70's Sandra was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia Disorder, a debilitating illness that quickly robbed her of the ability to communicate.  If you knew Sandra, you understood that such a fate was especially difficult, for she had many ideas and opinions and was not bashful about sharing them.  Her family wishes to express their appreciation for the outstanding care that she received at the Catholic Memorial Home where Sandra resided for several years.  Sandra is survived by her husband of 31 years David Augustinho; her son Michael Tavares; her brother David Candeias; her niece Sarah Piasecki; her grandchildren Evan, Emelia and Edie Tavares; as well as several cousins.

Family and friends are welcome to attend a visitation for Sandra will be held on November 2 ^nd from 4:00-7:00 P.M. , at the Manuel Rogers Funeral Home, 1521 N. Main St. To share a memory or offer a condolence please visit www.rogersfuneral.com