Sandra Stuart Sells

Sandra Stuart Sells, 73, died Sunday after a two-month battle with several gastric and pulmonary diseases. Sandra a 27 year resident of Baton Rouge, passed away in her sleep with her husband, George Sells, at her side. Sandra Sells was born in Portland, MI but spent her formative years in Bowling Green, KY. At Western Kentucky University she was editor of the campus newspaper. Upon graduation in 1964 she moved to WSM Radio and Television where she was a writer and on-air reporter. She later became news director of WSM Radio. It was at WSM that she met her future husband, George Sells, and began a professional trek across the U.S. that took them to Philadelphia, New York, Houston, Denver, Detroit and Baton Rouge. In Philadelphia Sandra became the first female anchor for an all-news radio station, Group W's KYW-Newsradio. She later became a model both in Philadelphia and New York. Sandra and George had their only son in Philadelphia in 1970. She was a member of the Junior League in Scarsdale, NY; Houston, TX and Denver, CO. Their son George IV is now a reporter for Fox Broadcasting in St. Louis. In Baton Rouge Sandra was a sales representative for WGGZ Radio (98.1) and for In Register Magazine. She was elected President of the group "Women in Media" and nearly doubled the size of the organization. She won the coveted Pinnacle Award in 1999 for best magazine account executive. "You could put Sandy in a den of thieves and ten minutes later she'd come out as a beloved friend with the group," said one sales competitor. "She had a knack for making everyone feel important." Her husband George tells of the time she committed a traffic offense right in front of the meeting place for the night drug task force on Government Street. One of the undercover cops telephoned her husband at WAFB-TV. "By the time I got there she was having a friendly conversation with two shabbily dressed police women and one tough looking policeman. The subject: flower arrangements." Sandy is survived by her husband, George III, her son George IV and her grandson George V. (Quinn) and granddaughter Samantha. Also her daughter in law Julie Bruner Sells of St. Louis, her sister Norah Lee Allen, brother in law Duane Allen, lead singer of the Oak Ridge Boys. Also brothers in law Richardson E. Sells of Hilton Head Island and Geoffrey William Sells of Knoxville, TN as well as a sister in law, Charlotte Sells Green of Montpelier, VT. Preceding Sandra in death was her sister Lana Gail Miller. Though Sandra will be buried at a family plot in Lewisburg, Kentucky west of Bowling Green on Friday, a memorial service will be conducted in Baton Rouge this Wednesday at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government St. Visitation will be 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. with a brief service at 7 p.m.