Sandra Fay Burg

Sandra “Sandy” Fay Abramson Burg, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, and the loving wife of Dr. Norman Burg, M.D. of Woodstock, New York, passed away peacefully at Ferncliff Nursing Home in Rhinebeck, New York, on April 17, 2025.

Sandy was born to Anna and Harry Abramson who owned and operated a bakery and grocery store on Broadway in downtown Schenectady. She graduated from Nott Terrace High School where she played on the girls’ basketball team and served as president of the Schenectady Jewish Youth Council. She then attended Russell Sage College, earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing and certification as a registered nurse. Upon graduation, she took her first job as a nurse at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, New York.

In 1960, she married Dr. Norman Burg of Brooklyn, New York. The couple first lived in West Hurley, New York, and then moved to Woodstock in 1968. Together, they raised five children and built a medical practice that served the families of the region.  As her children grew, she worked part-time as a substitute school nurse and then returned to full-time work at Kingston’s Benedictine Hospital as a floor nurse and then as an admitting nurse and patient advocate.

Throughout her life, Sandy remained deeply committed to her community, serving as an officer of the Woodstock Elementary School PTA, as the membership chair of the Woodstock League of Women Voters, as Vice President of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Medical Society of Ulster County, and as a member of the board of the Congregation Ahavath Israel B’nai B’rith lodge.  In the 1980s, she became President of the Benedictine Hospital Auxiliary and organized a popular and successful annual art auction that featured the works of Hudson Valley artists. She was also proud to be a participant in the Nurses Health Study that traced the health of over 100,000 nurses from 1976 to today.

Sandy loved cooking, traveling, dining out, gardening, playing tennis, and enjoying quality time with her friends and family.  She also appreciated the beauty of nature, a passion that found new expression when she took a senior citizen art class in her retirement and began painting animals, flowers, and landscapes. She was also a breast cancer survivor who provided help and support to others facing cancer.

As a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Sandy embraced her ever-expanding family with boundless love. Nothing brought her greater joy than celebrating the achievements of her loved ones. She was predeceased by her husband Norman, her daughter Barbara Burg Schieffelin, her brother Morris Abramson and his wife Lois, as well as an infant son David. She will be lovingly remembered by her sisters Deana Rubinger and her husband Howard, and Bernice Ginsburg, widow of George Ginsburg. She is also remembered by her sons Marc Burg and his wife Ann, her son-in-law Steven Schieffelin, Eric Burg and his wife Terri, Steven Burg and his wife Erica, and Harry Burg and his wife Jill; her grandchildren Celia Burg, Alex Burg, Celia Schieffelin, Drew Schieffelin, Dara Burg, Olivia Burg, Samuel Burg, Lucille Burg, Rachel Burg, Jessica Burg, and Allison Burg; and great-grandchildren Benjamin Burg and Diana Bronson-Burg.

Donations may be made in her memory to the Woodstock Fire Department Company 5 Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 222, Woodstock, NY 12498, or to the Barbara Burg Schieffelin Scholarship Fund for Camp Tu-Kum-Ta,

venmo@camptakumta,  P.O. Box 459, South Hero, VT 05486.

A funeral service and celebration of life will be held Monday at  11:00 AM at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation, 1682 Glasco Turnpike, Woodstock, New York 12498, followed by burial at the Woodstock Cemetery.  Arrangements are under the direction of the Seamon-Wilsey Funeral Home, Inc., Cor. of John & Lafayette Sts., Saugerties.   Expressions of condolence may be shared with the family at SeamonWilseyFuneralHome.com

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