Joan Sinagra

Joan Sinagra, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., April 23, 1920; passed away, at home June 17, 2007, in Las Vegas. Joan had a ready laugh, a love of blackjack and a zest for life. Even in her recent declining health, she enjoyed sharing a joke, and singing along to old crooners. Before she and her late husband, Salvatore Sinagra, moved to Las Vegas 12 years ago, Joan was a true blue Brooklyn gal. During World War II, she served in the U.S. Marines as a clerk typist and later worked for the City of New York before entering real estate management. Joan will be dearly missed by her family and friends. She is survived by her niece, Kristan Attardi-Hushing of Littleton, Colo.; and her nephew, John Attardi of San Francisco. She was preceded in death by her husband, Salvatore; and brother, Roland Attardi. The family is particularly grateful for the care and love provided by Marge Pacelli, Lucy Kelley, Marge Cimo and Norma Phillips. A private service was held at St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Catholic Church, with burial at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

Published in the July 6 Las Vegas Review Journal. Written by K's brother John.

Mandy

We drove the new CR-V down to Colorado Springs today, to meet with Kris King from the Poodle Preserve, and to meet Mandy, an adult Italian Greyhound and Chihuahua cross. K saw her online earlier this week, and fell in love. She talked me into driving down to meet Kris and Mandy (and a bunch of other wonderful small dogs), and now Mandy's our new family member!

This has been coming for years, but we've been holding back because of all the other complications in our lives. We finally decided there probably would never be a perfect time or situation, and we needed to do something that will help keep K company, and give her someone to be responsible for during the day. Mandy came from a rescue shelter, and is very distrustful of teenage boys, but is otherwise very well tempered and sweet. She seems very appreciative of her quiet new home with us. She's still very hesitant and self-protective, but she continues to show signs of becoming more comfortable with her new environment. At first we were counting the tail wags one by one, but now they're coming too fast and furious to tally.

Here's a picture of Kris King and some of her dogs at The Poodle preserve in Cotopaxi, CO. I'm pretty sure Mandy is the one under her left hand. Mandy spent two months with Kris, after being rescued from a shelter in Garden City, Kansas. Her disposition wasn't very good, after being returned by a family there, with a suspicion of abuse. The people in the Garden City shelter asked Kris to take her, help her forget the old bad times, and find her a nice quiet home without children.