Sandra Elizabeth McNamara

Sandy grew up in Houston, where she attended Bellaire High School and met a bright Rice University engineering student from Bogalusa, Louisiana, A. C. “Mac” McNamara, Jr. The city girl fell for the small town boy, and the two were soon married and on their way to having their first child, daughter Audrey Claire McNamara.

After Mac graduated from Rice and went to work in Houston, Sandy gave birth to their second child, Albert Charles McNamara, III, known as “Al” or “Tank” to his friends.

Sandy loved her home, and was a devoted, doting mother. She was an avid gardener, and a renowned cook.

Sandy also loved to travel. On a visit to Ireland, she kissed the Blarney Stone. In fact, she must have kissed it many times, as no one had the greater gift of “blarney” than Sandy. Sandy made close friends in every place that she lived. She could – and did – initiate conversations with anyone and everyone, from store clerks to travelers in line at airports.

Mac’s employer relocated to San Marcos, Texas, and so did Mac and Sandy. Before leaving Houston, however, Sandy gave birth to her and Mac’s third child, Andrew “Andy” Christopher McNamara. In San Marcos, Sandy volunteered with the Heritage Association, which included one of Sandy’s recipes in its cookbook.

When Al followed his sister Audrey to UT, Sandy became known to Al’s Pike fraternity brothers by Al’s term of endearment, “The Biddy.”

A job change took Mac and Sandy to Deephaven, Minnesota for several years, after which they decided to return to Texas and settle in San Antonio. As she did everywhere, Sandy made sure to get to know everyone in her new neighborhood and in her new church, Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church.

She continued her love of travel through trips to Europe and elsewhere with Mac and her grandchildren. She played bridge and entertained often.

A few years ago, Sandy was diagnosed with dementia, which slowly deprived her of her natural sociability. Mac’s loving care for Sandy allowed her to stay in her home, where she passed peacefully.

Sandy is preceded in death by her parents, Orva Mary Mandell and Stuart Mandell, and stepmother Eva Mandell; by brother Kenneth Mandell; and by sister Orva Mary Escalona. She is also preceded in death by her son Al, who passed in 2013 after a long, brave battle with leukemia. We can rejoice in knowing that Al and “The Biddy” are reunited.

Sandy is survived by Mac, her husband of 63 years; by brother Harry Frederick Mandell of El Paso; by daughter Audrey McNamara Curl and her husband Paul Curl, and grandchildren Matthew “Mac” Curl and Anna Curl, of San Antonio; by Al’s wife, daughter-in-law Jean McNamara, and grandchildren Paige McNamara and John “Jack” McNamara, of Houston; and by son Andy McNamara and his wife Amy McNamara, of Los Angeles, California.

Services will be held on January 4, 2021 at 10 a.m., at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, 308 Mt. Calvary, San Antonio, Texas 78209, where social distancing and other precautions against the spread of COVID-19 will be observed.