VADA SHELL STANLEY One of the kindest, gentlest, most loving people in the world is no longer with us. Vada Shell Stanley, 80, passed away peacefully at home in New Canaan, Connecticut on July 13, 2013 after a long illness. Many of those who knew her could think of no better word than "angel" to describe her. Wherever she went, Vada Stanley impressed people as a very special person. She might have won any beauty contest she entered, but her beauty was more than skin deep; inside there was a beautiful soul. She could be and was a charming dinner companion for people like Bill Clinton and Prince Charles, among others, but the same warm charm was there for absolutely everyone who crossed her path . A key thing that made her so very special was her way of making each of us feel we were special to her. A rare combination of compassion, acceptance and love radiated from her being. Born in 1933 in the rolling hills of Kentucky, she had a life that was charmed in many ways but with challenges as well. Hers was a loving family but not one in which people went to college. She did by earning all the money needed with jobs through her high school and college years . Not long after that she had to face the need to end a disastrous marriage with two tiny children to support, Bill and Glee, and no help from their father. At that challenging time in her life she got a job, a rare one for women then, as a marketing management trainee at the home office of Procter & Gamble. There she met and married (three years later) Ted Stanley who worked in the same office in a similar job. Their 52-year marriage was a happy one; her husband never got over his great good luck in having found her. They had one son, Jonathan , who appreciated her just as much. After their marriage in 1961, they moved to Westport, Connecticut and have lived in New Canaan , CT since 1996 with, at various times, second homes in Manhattan, Santa Fe and Vermont. Vada Stanley was quite simply one of the most wonderful people in all the world, and she will be long remembered by everyone fortunate enough to know her. May she rest in peace and find as much joy in another world as she gave to us. A memorial service to be held at a later date. For online condolences, please visit: www.hoytfuneralhome.com