Isabel Janet (Zink) Brandt

Isabel Janet Brandt passed away peacefully on June 7, 2023. Born on December 8, 1929, Isabel was the daughter of Fannie Martin and George R. Zink Sr. She was predeceased by her husband and the love of her life, Roy H. Brandt Jr.

Born just a month after the 1929 stock market crash, Isabel was every bit a child of the Depression. She was judicious in her spending, except when her children needed help, and her freezer was always full of tiny tidbits of leftover food that she was adamant could not be thrown away.

In high school, Isabel took up tennis and soon was the only girl on the Mount Joy High School varsity tennis team. When she was on her game, Isabel’s slicing forehand was virtually unreturnable. Later, playing with her half-brother, Frank, she finished near the top of the Harrisburg Open Tennis Tournament in mixed doubles.

Isabel loved games of all kinds and brought a quiet, determined competitiveness to them. She especially loved cards. She and Roy, in their younger years, loved pinochle, sometimes playing into the wee hours of the morning with their friends, Miriam and Jerry Weaver. In recent years Isabel loved playing a variation of canasta with her regular weekly foursomes.

After losing her mother at age 12, Isabel developed a natural guardedness, and at times she appeared to be quiet and reserved. Beneath the surface, however, was a big heart and a generous spirit. All her life, until hands and eyes started to fail a couple of years ago, children and grandchildren in her large family could count on birthday and Christmas cards with a surprise inside. Even in her last days, she was a faithful contributor to her church and the Londonderry Village Good Samaritan Fund and to charities that aligned with her faith and values.

Isabel and Roy were faithful in service as well. In the early 1960s their church in suburban Philadelphia decided to sponsor a refugee from Cuba but needed a host family. Isabel and Roy stepped forward, and Luis Gonzalez became part of the family.

Isabel loved babies. While her own last child was still a toddler, Isabel was asked to foster babies during the interim between birth and adoption. After three or four, she had to give up this ministry, because handing these babies to their new parents, even after just a few weeks of foster care, was too hard for her.

In addition to her husband, Roy H. Brandt Jr., Isabel was predeceased by her beloved sister, Mildred (aka Aunt Sissie) and her five brothers, George, Frank, Charlie, John and Robert.

Isabel is survived by her children, Patricia Frederick (Charlie), Steven (Scottie Lu), Cynthia Ninesling (Walt), Daniel (Melisa) and Jennifer Figueroa (Greg), 12 grandchildren, Julie Hagen (Chuck), Emily Kirchner (Jay), Jill Marie Sides, Wilson, Clark (Kennon), Ben Ninesling, Grace Whelan (Brett), Candace Calhoun, Zach, Savannah, Emily Figueroa, Chloe Figueroa and 10 great grandchildren, Rachel Hagen, Maggie Kirchner, Noah Kirchner, Max Sides, Leo Sides, Hamish, Houston, Evelyn, Haley Goodwin and Cameron Burnaman.

Isabel’s children would like to thank the nurses, aides and other staff of Londonderry Village Personal Care and Royer House as well as the staff of Hospice of Central Pennsylvania for their compassionate care for her over the last year. The family is also especially grateful to Saren Zink and to Cori Roberto for their many kindnesses to Isabel through the years and especially in Isabel’s recent period of declining health.

A memorial service for Isabel will be held in the DiMatteo Worship Center at Londonderry Village, 1200 Grubb Road, Palmyra PA, at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 16, 2023 with visitation and reception to follow in the Stoneback Pavilion at Londonderry Village. Private interment to follow at Conewago Cemetery, Conewago Township, Dauphin County, PA.

Memorials made be made to the Good Samaritan Fund at Londonderry Village, 1200 Grubb Road, Palmyra, PA 17078.

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