Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at Scanio-Harper Funeral Home in Temple, Texas. The family will receive visitors from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, also at Scanio-Harper Funeral Home.
Sandra was born on June 2, 1937, in Temple, Texas, to Judge Byron G. Skelton and Ruth A. (Thomas) Skelton. She grew up in Temple, where her childhood was filled with travel alongside her parents and sister, Sue. She also lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 1942 to 1945, while her father served as a federal judge and special assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina. After returning to the U.S., she and her family frequently attended political conventions and made many trips to Washington, D.C.
Sandra attended Temple High School and later the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a member of Chi Omega sorority. After college, she became a certified medical technician and worked at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
Upon returning to her hometown of Temple, she married the love of her life, Robert T. “Bob” Farrell, on September 24, 1960, at the First United Methodist Church in Temple. Together they shared many wonderful years of marriage filled with love, faith, and cheering on the Texas Longhorns. They raised three boys and spent countless years at ball games and sporting events.
Sandra went back to school at the University of Mary Hardin–Baylor to earn her teaching certificate and became a Spanish teacher at Temple High School. She was a longtime, active member of the First United Methodist Church in Temple, where she was part of the church choir. She was also a proud, certified Master Gardener, spending much of her time tending to her beloved backyard garden and greenhouse. A woman of faith, creativity, musical talent, and kindness, Sandra lived a full and joyful life surrounded by family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Robert T. “Bob” Farrell; her parents, Judge Byron G. Skelton and Ruth A. Skelton; her sister, Sue S. Ramsey; and her son, Bradley S. Farrell.
Survivors include her sons, Greg T. Farrell and Byron R. Farrell (Lynda); grandchildren: Meghan F. Fuhrmann (Sean), Dr. Molly F. Lafuente (Daniel), Sean B. Farrell, Patrick L. Farrell (Megan), Corinne F. Hollenberg (Justin), Ian Farrell, Kaitlyn M. Dawson (Philip Emanuel), Cameron A. Dawson (Ainslie), and Clark A. Henry; and great-grandchildren: Beau R. Fuhrmann, Owen T. Fuhrmann, and Ella Q. R. Emanuel.
