Sandra Lee Tennill

Sandy left this earthly plane on April 11, 2023 to be with her Heavenly Father and all of her loved ones gone before.

Sandra Lee Newton was born in Tacoma, Washington at Fort Lewis on March 27, 1948. Her mother commended that the roses were blooming outside the hospital window in the snow covered ground, a promise of Easter and Spring. She was the first born of Seaborn Wayne and Orpha Nell Chiles Newton's five children. She was also the loudest, the boldest, and oftentimes, the zaniest of her siblings. A fiery March Aries trailblazer through and through she was.

Sandy spent her first 14 years moving around the country since her Dad was in the Air Force after having served in WWII and Korea. Most of those 14 years were spent in south Florida near Homestead Air Force Base. When her father retired from the Air Force in September 1962, he moved the family, now six in number, to Austin, her mother's hometown. Sandy graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in 1966 where she had been a member of the Valkyries and the National Honor Society. After graduation, she attended Durham Business College. She attended McLennan Community College in Waco where she belonged to the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Sorority. In 1978, she graduated from Baylor University with a BA in Journalism. She earned an Elementary Education Certificate from Corpus Christi State University (now Texas A&M Corpus Christi) in 1987. She had three precious children: Richard Russell, Jennifer Katherine, and Travis Joe.

Her storied professional career spanned many types of jobs and employers including: Tracor 1967-1971; Hillcrest Baptist Hospital, Waco, 1976-1978; Driscoll Children's Hospital Public Relations in Corpus Christi, 1978-1980; Mathis News Editor, Mathis, TX, 1980-1982; Pasadena ISD Elementary School Teacher 1987-1998; Residential Real Estate Sales in Corpus Christi, 1999-2005; part-time on-site construction security, 2007-2011; and part-time WalMart cashier in Georgetown 2012-2018.

Sandy was married to Alfred C. Loya from 1968-1977. She then married the love of her life Glen Lee "Butch" Tennill in 1981. They were happily married for almost 25 years before his early and untimely death from asbestos related lung cancer in 2005. She moved from their home in Corpus Christi to Georgetown in 2005 to be closer to her parents and siblings in Austin. Sandy loved her adopted home of Georgetown much like her Grandfather, Harry A. Swenson, before her.

She gave her all with fierce and flaming passions to her work, her play, her family, her causes, and her beliefs. Sandy enjoyed reading American historical fiction; singing with her sisters; traveling; RV camping; walking; dancing; classic movies; shopping day trips; making Thanksgiving dinners; volunteering; merlot; and vodka martinis. She loved to laugh; She loved being the clown.

Sandy was a member of First United Methodist Church for 16 years; and subsequently a member of Crestview Baptist Church. During her life in Georgetown, she volunteered at Seton Williamson Hospital, St. David's Hospital, The Caring Place, and the Georgetown Public Library. She was a member of The Eastern Star Hadassah #188, the United Daughters of the Confederacy Bell County 101, the VFW Ladies Auxiliary 8589, the Georgetown Area Republican Women; the Baylor Alumni Association, and the FUMC Hannah Circle for 16 years.

Sandy is preceded in death by: her parents, Seaborn Wayne and Orpha Nell Chiles Newton; her husband, Butch Tennill, her son, Richard Russell Loya; her brother, Steven Wayne Newton; her maternal grandparents, Harry A. and Mabel Johnson Swenson; her paternal grandparents, Seaborn Durham and Emma Francis Bridges Newton Walker; her in-laws, Henry M and Victoria Loya; in-laws, Joe V. and Nell Blake Tennill; and her nephew Nicholas Wayne Newton.

She is survived by: her daughter Jennifer K. Caster of Brighton, Colorado; her son, Travis J. Tennill of Round Rock, Texas; her grandson, Levi Max Loya and his wife, Ali, of Spanish Fort, Alabama; her great-grandsons, Rhyner Z. Loya and Remiel O. Loya, of Spanish Fort, Alabama; her grandsons, Hayden T Allen of Austin, Texas; Mason C. Allen of Brighton, Colorado; and Jagger D. Caster of Nacogdoches, Texas; her sisters, Christine D. Studebaker and her husband, Michael, of Georgetown, Texas; Dawnell Dayton of Austin, Texas; and her brother, Glenn H. Newton of Austin, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Friends of the Georgetown Public Library; to the St David's Hospital Volunteers; to the Boys and Girls Club of Georgetown; to the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW Post 8589; or to the Eastern Star Hadassah #188

There will be a private family service at a later date.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldendavisfuneralhome.com for the Tennill family.