Sheila Marie Favalora

Sheila Marie Favalora age 75, passed away peacefully at home on January 29, 2023, after a lengthy and valiant battle with ALS. Sheila was born on April 6, 1947, to the late Earl and Bernadine Zeman.
Sheila was a 1965 graduate of Riverdale High School. She started her career as a member of the Old Dominion staff in Norfolk, Virginia, when she was married to Armand, and was proudly a Navy wife.
Returning to her hometown in New Orleans, Sheila started her 50-year career at Tulane University. Her first position was as the Administrative Assistant to the Basketball Coach, a role in which Sheila thrived, developing lifelong and precious friendships with many of the players and staff that extended well beyond her tenure and brought her joy to the very end of her life. As her career evolved, she was promoted to Senior Administrative Assistant to the Athletic Director and eventually served as the Executive Administrative Assistant to the President of the University. In her final years before retiring, she was also a leader of the Payson Center and worked very closely with the foreign exchange student program at Tulane. In this capacity she was able to express her generous nurture to a diverse array of individuals. Sheila was universally liked by all who encountered her radiant smile and innate kindness, as she was known for going out of her way to assist anyone in need. She received numerous awards while at Tulane, leaving her positive impact on countless lives, an indelible legacy that friends and her many admirers uphold and carry on today. Though Sheila faced many challenges during her career, balancing the competing demands upon her as a single mom, she was well regarded and respected by her peers, co-workers and friends for the grace with which she excelled in managing them all. She made each and every person feel important and that they genuinely mattered. Her expansive love was a gift to humanity.

Sheila enjoyed listening to live music and dancing at the Blue Crab. She was a vibrant, bright spirit, who truly enjoyed caring for others, and lived her final years spending quality time with her closest friends and family. She will be missed and cherished eternally.

Sheila is survived by her devoted son and daughter in law, Dwayne and Christine Falcon, and her beloved grandchildren, Ryder and London Falcon, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and her sister, Earline Zeman of New Orleans, Louisiana. She is also survived by Alan and Amy Favalora, and Nacol and Nick Waligura.

Sheila was lovingly known as, "Nana” to her esteemed grandchildren and her surrogate grandchildren, Maddy, Maysen, and Timmy Favalora, as well as TK and Shane Waligura. Her delight in them knew no bounds.

Lastly, we would like to express our deepest heartfelt gratitude in thanks to Armand Favalora for steadfastly caring for Sheila in her final, and most vulnerable years.

Family and friends are invited to attend a Visitation on Friday, February 10, 2023, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Tharp Funeral Home located at 1600 North Causeway Blvd, in Metairie, LA 70001.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to one of the following: Team Gleason Foundation, ALS Clinic or the American Cancer Society for Breast Cancer.

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