Article by Gwen Jones, Department of Family Services
(Posted 2023 January)
Corazon Sandoval Foley believes in honoring history. She has written several books about the history of her hometown of Burke, VA, conducting careful research to accurately depict the people and events that shaped the community. She has also worked to document the many contributions of Asian-Americans and Pacific-Islanders to Virginia history, a population not often acknowledged in books about Virginia history. While examining the past, Foley has also turned her eyes to the future, working to create the Burke/West Springfield Senior Center Without Walls to serve older adults. She has also been a tireless advocate for a permanent senior center in the Springfield district. While her work has been at times both exciting and exhausting, she is committed to always speaking out for what she believes in.
Corazon Sandoval was born and raised in the Philippines, emigrating to the United States in 1970 to pursue a Master’s in Business Administration at George Washington University. After marrying Michael Daniel Foley, the couple served with the U.S. State Department diplomatic service in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Cebu, Philippines and Leningrad, USSR (now known as Saint Petersburg, Russia). In 1980, they moved to West Springfield and in 1995, had a house built in Burke, VA – and have long considered themselves Burkites, having fallen in love with their hometown. Both Corazon and Michael worked in the intelligence field with the State Department and Central Intelligence Agency while raising their two children.
After retiring in 2007 at age 57, Foley found she was still full of energy and excited to pursue new projects. In 2008, she led the Fairfax County Asian American History project to document the history, experiences, and contributions of Asian Americans in Fairfax County. The project resulted in the publication of a book, “The Fairfax County Asian American History Project: A Contemporary History Honoring 143 Years of Asian Residents in Fairfax County.” In 2009, Foley was named Lady Fairfax in recognition of her work on the project. She has gone on to write several more books detailing Asian American contributions to Virginia history.
Foley says local history has always fascinated her and she has worked to document the stories of the early families and history of Burke. Through her research and by conducting oral history interviews, she has written four books about the history of Burke, going as far back as 1728. Her writing has also included her own family history. She edited her father-in-law’s World War II diary to create “Long Ago and Far Away: The World War II Diary of Daniel Foley, Jr. of Vallejo, California.” To honor her late father, she wrote "Sandoval Stories, 1760s-2013: Filipino American Odyssey from Iloilo, Palawan, Manila to Fairfax County, Virginia" which documents her own family’s history.
Not long after retiring, Foley also began driving a group of older women from her church, Nativity Catholic Church, to the Lorton Senior Center for a line dancing class. During the drives to and from the center, the women expressed their wish for a senior center located in their district. Foley’s first thought was “it can’t be that hard,” so she began to petition the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to establish a Senior Center in the Springfield District.
After learning that there was no budget to establish a new permanent senior center, Foley worked with Fairfax County’s Neighborhood and Community Services staff to create a senior center in her community that has no fixed location. In 2009, the Burke/West Springfield Senior Center Without Walls (BWSSCWoW), a public-private partnership, launched. The center is supported by libraries, churches, and private organizations, who donate space in their facilities to host classes which are monitored by volunteers. Fairfax County supports the center by providing administrative support.
The BWSSCWoW was successful from the start, with participants lining up early each quarter to register for classes so they could secure a spot. In 2017, the Library of Virginia named her a “Changemaker” as one of the 2017 Virginia Women in History Awardees for her work establishing the Fairfax County Asian American History project and creating the BWSSCWoW.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the BWSSCWoW suspended in-person classes so the website was expanded to serve as a resource and digital activity hub to help combat social isolation among older adults in Fairfax County. In 2020, Foley received the Andrus Award for Volunteer Service – the AARP’s most prestigious award – for her continued advocacy in support of older adults in her community and her contribution to the creation and operation of the BWSSCWoW.
Although proud of the success of the BWSSCWoW, Foley has never given up on establishing a permanent senior center in the Springfield District. Fifteen years after Foley began advocating for a senior center, Fairfax County leased an 8,000-square-foot storefront in the Huntsman Square shopping center to serve as location of the senior center. On October 11, 2022, the Board of Supervisors approved a budget of $250,000 to renovate the space.
Foley has passed her love of history onto her two grandchildren – 12-year-old Daniel and 10-year-old Ciara. In 2021, then-Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam sponsored a student competition to honor Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Students were asked to submit nominations on topics of national, state, and regional significance to Asian American Pacific Islander history in Virginia. Historical markers of the winning entries would be created and erected. After consulting with their grandma, Daniel and Ciara submitted the topic of Filipinos in the U.S. Navy, and their submission was one of five selected. The historical marker recognizing Filipino-American service in the U.S. Navy was erected in Virginia Beach in May 2022.
While supporting her grandchildren’s historical marker aspirations, Foley was also pursuing one of her own. She had discovered that the historical marker erected in Burke Station contained inaccurate information, so she petitioned the Virginia Department of Historical Resources to replace it with a corrected marker. Eventually they agreed and the new marker was installed in October 2022. Foley fought to correct the historical inaccuracy because she believes it is important that people know the true history of Burke, a place that she is proud to call her hometown. Foley is advocating for other historical markers to be erected in Burke as well as one in the City of Fairfax to recognize firefighters and other first responders.
In May 2022, Foley suffered the loss of her husband Michael. She takes great comfort in spending time with friends and family, especially her grandchildren. She has also discovered that her advocacy work helps her continue to stay engaged, even while she grieves. Attending the BWSSCWoW line dancing class where she connects with friends and enjoys the music is also something she looks forward to every week.
To honor her late husband, Foley is petitioning the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to honor the generations of Foleys who have served in the United States Military by naming the new center the “Foley Community Center.” She is also hoping that the county will consider opening the new center as a community center rather than a senior center, a change that would allow the center to serve the entire population of Springfield while providing opportunities for generations to interact and learn from one another. While she eagerly awaits the opening of the center, she plans to stay active and continue to advocate for the causes she supports.
This article is part of the Golden Gazette monthly newsletter which covers a variety of topics and community news concerning older adults and caregivers in Fairfax County. Are you new to the Golden Gazette? Don’t miss out on future newsletters! Subscribe to get the electronic or free printed version mailed to you. Have a suggestion for a topic? Share it in an email or call 703-324-GOLD (4653).