Sally Agarwal

Sally Winter Agarwal, aged 92, of Middleton, WI (formerly of New Philadelphia, OH) died peacefully at home surrounded by family on Sept. 21, 2022.

Sally was born on July 23, 1930 in Pittsburgh, PA to Thomas Albert and Florence McCullough Winter. Sally went away to college at the University of Iowa where she graduated in 1952.  Sally returned to Pittsburgh and taught in the local school system as a speech therapist.  She lived in her parents’ home as a new graduate and saved her money in order to purchase a new white Chevrolet.

In 1954 Sally met and fell in love with the man who would become her husband, Gopal Agarwal. Gopal was in the United States on a student visa which expired soon after he met Sally, and he had to return to India.  Although Sally and Gopal were separated by oceans, their ove continued to grow.  Gopal returned to the United States three years later in 1957 and proposed to Sally on his arrival date.  They were married on June 8, 1959 in the backyard of Sally’s childhood home in Pittsburgh, PA.

Gopal and Sally settled in Butler, PA where they had two children.  In the early 1960’s, they sponsored Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada the originator of the Hare Krishna movement in the USA.  The Swami stayed with them in Butler while he acclimated to life in America.  The couple moved to Dover, OH in 1966 and had two more children.  In 1971, they built a house in New Philadelphia, OH where they raised their four children and spent the next 47 years.  After her husband died in 2018, Sally moved to Wisconsin to live with her oldest daughter, Kamla, and her family.

At a time when most moms stayed at home, Sally worked outside the home in the Tuscarawas County schools as a speech therapist from 1968 through 1983.  She volunteered as a summer Head Start instructor and Bible School teacher.  In 1984, Sally began a new career as a businesswoman and entrepreneur, when she opened several successful weight loss franchise stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania.  With her business savvy and people skills, she earned the respect of her fellow owners and employees.

Despite her professional success, her most important and lifelong passion was loving her children and grandchildren, for whom she became a lifelong cheerleader.  Sally loved providing for her family, whether it was picking buckets of blackberries from the woods behind the house, making pizza from scratch every Sunday, or mending the frequent garment emergency.  Importantly, she was recognized by her grandchildren as a master baker of coffee cake, pumpkin pie, and chocolate chip cookies.

Sally was an avid gardener and planned her garden every summer.  She choose her plants with care and transplanted prize-winning varieties of day lilies from friends’ gardens.  All of her children have plants from Mom’s collection.

Sally enjoyed playing the piano and took lessons from an early age.  Her piano was her pride and her favorite piece was Clair de Lune.  She played just for the joy of playing and we will all miss hearing the beautiful music.

Sally enjoyed traveling and encouraged her family to share her passion for exploring different cultures.  Family trips were plentiful and favorite destinations were Hawaii, Mexico, India, Thailand, China and Europe.  We all have wonderful memories of special trips with Mom.

Sally is survived by daughters Kamla Mukherjee (Joy) of Madison, WI; Indu Agarwal MD of Cleveland, OH; and Maya Agarwal of Portland, OR; son Brij Agarwal JD of Pittsburgh, PA; and seven grandchildren (Rohin, Neel, Bridget, Patrick, Fred, India, and May). Sally was preceded in death by her loving husband of 59 years, Gopal, in 2018.  She was also preceded in death by her parents, her sister Ann, and brothers William and Thomas.

We love you Mom; you are the wind beneath our wings!

We welcome you to share your memories here on Sally's tribute wall.

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