Alexandra "Sandy" Ann Faltermeier

Although Sandy was born an only child to Frank and Nancy, she lived in a family house with her parents, grandparents and aunt. So, she had plenty of love and attention from all her family.

Her father had 11 brothers and sisters and he was the youngest, so many of her first cousins were as old as her parents. It was her second cousins that were around her age growing up. This is where she had her strongest family ties and memories and still did to this day.

After her grandparents passed away, her parents made sure they had a parent at home to care for her. Her father worked during the day hours for an Engineering, Procurement and Construction company. Her mother worked during the night at the telephone company. As an only child, her parents showered her with love and constant attention. For example, her father would flood the back yard in the winter so she could ice skate. She always loved the color purple. When she turned 16, her father bought her a brand new purple Pontiac Le Mans, which she ended up driving throughout her college years and beyond.

Even though Sandy had no siblings, her parents made sure she had a dog to share her love with. This love of dogs and animals carried through with her in life. At one time we had three dogs and three cats in our house in Katy, Texas. After our dogs passed away, she started dog sitting, where the dogs where brought to OUR house while their owners were away on trips.

She spent a good portion of her childhood growing up with the Queally family who lived down the street and were dear family friends. She was the same age as the Queally kids and basically grew up with them as if they were brothers and sister. One of her closest Queally to her was Kevin. In fact, Kevin was her first kiss from a boy but Kevin had other ideas and decided to into the seminary. Kevin was eventually ordained as a Francisican Friar. He married Sandy and me, baptized our children and married our daughter Meredith to her husband Ryan and now is officiating at Sandy's committal service.

After attending Elizabeth Seton College in Yonkers, New York, she transferred to College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York and graduared in 1973. Following graduation, she worked as a buyer for Bonwit Teller in NYC. When her father was transferred to Houston, she decided to be with her parents and relocated to Houston as well. She was accepted into the University of Texas in Austin, Texas to a Masters in Advertising. Although she never completed her master's thesis, that background and education gave her entry into advertising in Houston. She progressed through various advertising positions from a lumber company to Point Communications to Baxter and Korge.

It was while she was working in advertising in Houston that I met Sandy. I was working at a metal building company as an engineer and my administrative assistant lived next door to her parents. That neighbor, Jody, thought we would make a great pair. Boy was she right. Our first date was meeting for lunch at a barbeque joint that was near my office and abutted to a railroad track where the trains would stop to get barbeque - it was that good. I had to have all my fellow engineers with me to meet Sandy and of course, Jody was there as well. That was the beginning of a five year relationship before we finally got married on June 7, 1981. We were blessed with our first child, Meredith, less than one year following our marriage - May 30, 1982. Fours years later we were blessed with our second child, Frank, born March 5, 1986 ( Deceased July 21, 2018)

She never served the military but she had a high regard for anyone who served their country. Her father fought in the Pacific during WWII. He went in as a Private and came out as a Captain. Upon returning to the US, he continued his military career in the reserves and obtained the rank of Major in the US Army in Chemical Warfare.

She was a member of Prince of Peace Catholic Community in Plano, Texas and Schoenstatt through All Saints Catholic Church in Dallas, Texas.

Many people may not be aware but Sandy's birth name is actually "Alexandra". Her parents called her Sandra for short and this eventually translated into the name many of you know her by "Sandy". She had a passion for shopping, especially with her mother. They would be gone all day going from store to store looking for whatever and anything - sometimes buying nothing and other times filling the back of our station wagon. As some of you have seen from visiting our house, she is a collector of knick-knacks, antiques, tea pots, tea cups, glassware, Hummel plates, Wedgewood and the list goes on and on! She like to look at the things she collected so she enjoy them.

Her favorite place to sit was on our couch in the TV room watching Law & Order Special Victims Unit or Criminal Minds while playing Spider on her computer or smart phone. She loved to dance, it didn't matter what genre. We danced to swing, country, rock, reggae, disco, or whatever was playing. Just a few weeks ago, she said she wanted us to take ballroom dancing lessons to improve our skills. I was up for it!

I would like for everyone to remember her as they remember her, everyone has their own special memory of Sandy that will always remind them of her. One of her favorite songs is " A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri with the lyrics having a special meaning as we lay Sandy to rest - " I have loved you for a thousand years, I'll love you for a thousand more."

In lieu of flowers the family ask that you make a donation in Sandy's honor to the organization listed below.