As a lover of food, fashion and friendship, NaShanda Singletary lived her life with a flair for glamour.
Singletary, a food service worker for Duke Dining, died March 25 of sarcoma cancer. She was 26 years old.
“She was a loving person, and she was loved by everybody,” said Maria Singletary, NaShanda’s sister-in-law and a food service worker at Subway. “She knew everybody by first and last name. We miss her terribly.”
A Durham native, Singletary—known as Shanda—worked as a cashier and manned several stations in the Great Hall, the Marketplace and Subway for nearly 10 years before she stopped working in May 2010.
“She was just genuine and sincere as a person who really cared about making a difference in students’ experiences in dining,” Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst wrote in an email. “It’s just unfortunate and tragic that someone at this age was taken away from us.”
Her friends and family recalled her relentless optimism, kindhearted nature and appreciation for her favorite things in life.
“They called her Icy,” said Delvona Snipes, Singletary’s close friend and lead food service worker in the Great Hall. “She loved to shop and take pictures. She liked her nails done and her hair pretty.”
Snipes noted Singletary’s love for cheesecake and lasagna, prized collection of shoes—Air Jordans were her favorite—and gorgeous hair with red highlights.
Singletary’s creativity and endearing personality also carried over to the workplace. A social and dedicated employee, she enjoyed chatting with students and was the first to help out at busy stations, said Danielle Bishop, a food service worker in the Great Hall.
“The students loved her,” Bishop said. “She was always friendly and nice. The students were really affected by her passing.”
Bishop recalled her and Singletary’s involvement with a class project completed in April 2009 by Kristin Kremers, Trinity ’09. For the assignment, Bishop and Singletary danced to The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” in the Great Hall with huge smiles on their faces. Kremers wrote in an email Monday that although she did not know Singletary well, she was quick to offer her assistance in the project.
Singletary planned to return to school, become an accountant and raise a family, Snipes said. She married Gary “Diddy” Singletary in July 2009, but the couple did not yet have children.
Singletary’s passing marks the third death in dining services over the past eight years, said Food Service Coordinator Ginger Harris. To the employees, the loss is like losing a member of their family, she added. Singletary will be remembered for her character and strength, which Harris credited to her faith in God.
“Shanda had such spirit. She had so much gusto when a lot of us couldn’t manage,” Harris said. “I was really proud of her for that.”
Funeral services will take place today at 1 p.m. at New Calvary Baptist Church in Durham.
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