Sheila Kavanagh Mandt 1965-2021

By Charles McGuigan 02.2021

Sheila Kavanagh Mandt, who was born at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City, passed away January 25 of complications due to COVID-19. She was 55 years old, and had been married to former Third District City Councilman Chris Hilbert for the past 25 years.

“She was the strongest and most generous person I have ever met,” Chris told me. “Her seventeen-year battle with various ailments as a result of being as exposed to mold was remarkable. Doctors had written her off several times. And she survived all of it. During the calendar years of 2013 and 2014 she was in the hospital for over three hundred days. She was absolutely the strongest person I know. All of her doctors were amazed at her strength and determination and amazing will to live.”

Her strength was complemented by her magnanimity. “She had a profound generosity of spirit,” said Chris. “If someone admired something, she took note of that and sent it to them if she could.” When a former Richmond mayor visited the Hilbert home and remarked on the pleasant scent of the environment, Shelia sent him a box of the scented candles she used. Sheila was known as the consummate hostess of Richmond’s Northside.

Sheila, from the time she and her husband moved to Richmond in 1995, was a community activist. One of her passions was advocacy for domestic violence survivors. “She was a huge supporter of President Biden way back in the nineties when he was championing the Violence Against Women Act” Chris recalled. “And I am grateful that she saw him inaugurated. She had always cared deeply about Joe Biden.”

Back in 2002, Shelia contacted every domestic violence shelter in Virginia—more than 150 of them, according to Chris. She asked each shelter to create a separate cloth patch that would later be stitched into a giant quilt.

“Sheila got a grant of $25,000 from Philip Morris to hire a seamstress to sew the whole thing together,” said Chris.

The finished product was gargantuan.

“It stretched from the entrance to the library of Virginia, all the way across the lobby and all the way up the stairs,” Chris said. “It was huge.”

Today, a large panel of Shelia’s quilt hangs in the lobby of the Virginia Attorney General’s Office on 9th Street in downtown Richmond.

Sheila always loved animals. The first dog she and Chris adopted was rescue dog named Bailey who lived for seventeen years. “The dog that we have now was from the SPCA and is named Scout,” said Chris. “Sheila had great admiration for Robin Starr and the phenomenal organization (Richmond SPCA) she runs.”

Sheila was predeceased by her parents, Ann and Edward; and her sister, Maura Mandt. She is survived by her husband, Chris; and his sisters, Debbie (Mike) Beard and Sandra (Joel) McKinney; and brother, David Hilbert; and nieces, Melanie (Glen) and Shannon (Andy) Nelson. Sheila is also survived by her brothers, Neil and Michael; her sisters-in-law, Lauren and Diana; and her nieces, Grace Ann and Charlotte Lynn Mandt.

A memorial service won’t be held until November 3—Sheila’s birthday. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Richmond SPCA at 2519 Hermitage Road, Richmond, VA 23220 or online at https://richmondspca.org.