She was born Mary Elizabeth Sanders on July 5, 1932, in the tiny East Texas town of Honey Grove. At home, she was always called Mary, but as soon as she started to school, she was given the nickname Sandy by her classmates. That’s the name she preferred and the name she went by from then on.
Sandy lived her entire life in Texas, first in Honey Grove and, later, Palacios, before she moved with her mother and father, Lillian and John, to Houston. Prior to coming to “the Big City,” they had always lived in the country. Sandy loved to tell the story of a pet billy goat who chewed up the rag top of the family jalopy. The poor goat didn’t last long at the farm after that. The countryside was where Sandy acquired her life-long love of dogs. She had all kinds of breeds, from Chihuahuas to Cocker Spaniels, Boxers, and Collies. As a child, Lassie Come Home was one of her favorite movies.
Sandy was an only child until the day after she turned 13—the day her first sister, Jennifer (Ruth), was born. Sandy was ecstatic. She had always wanted a baby sister to dress up and play with. Fourteen months later, the family was joined by another daughter, Martha, and by the time Sandy was 16, she also had a baby brother, Johnny. She finally got her wish for a big family!
As a teenager in Houston, Sandy discovered swimming and practically lived in the water all summer. Blonde, blue-eyed Sandy and her girlfriends would put on their bathing suits, then douse their hair with lemon juice (to make it blonder) and sit in the sun getting a tan—which was very fashionable in those days before we all learned the dangers of UV rays. She also tried her hand at archery and tennis, and she loved to play croquet.
Her real love, though, was basketball. Sandy was an excellent writer and was named sports editor of the Sam Houston High School newspaper. Though she covered all of the sports events, her main interest was basketball, which she played all through high school. Sandy was a life-long aficionado of the game and when the Rockets moved to Houston in the early seventies, she became their Number One Fan! Even in her later years, after her health began failing, she would manage somehow to stay up late into the night watching her team play, all the while yelling encouragement to her guys.
After high school, Sandy went to work at the telephone company as an operator. She later tried a couple of other jobs but really found her calling when she took a dog obedience class in the parking lot of a local mall. It wasn’t long before she began improving on the techniques she had been taught and decided to start her own school: Rebel Oaks. Sandy owned the school 45 years before she retired with health issues. In addition to training, Sandy competed in dog shows all over the country and left behind a whole wall of trophies and ribbons. She also occasionally served as an AKC judge. But her true passion was the actual training. She made friends with most of her students and stayed in touch with them long after the classes she taught had been completed. She was always thrilled to see her students go on to win trophies and ribbons of their own.
Over the years, she had a variety of dogs that she loved and used for the training in her classes: German Shepherds, Dobermans, at least one poodle, and, finally, Belgian Sheepdogs. She loved each and every one of her dogs—her “other family”—and truly suffered when one of them was sick or hurt and especially when one passed on. Sandy had already retired when her last Belgian died. She declared that she didn’t ever want another dog; the inevitable loss was just too painful. A very good friend convinced her otherwise, though, and took her to get a mixed-breed rescue dog that she named Blessing. Blessing was as good as her name, helping relieve Sandy’s depression and giving her companionship and solace the rest of her life.
Sandy had a great sense of humor and loved a good laugh. She especially liked blonde jokes—particularly those that showed blondes were often much smarter than they looked. She enjoyed board games, crossword puzzles, and along with her husband Tex (who passed away in July 2004), she could spend hours putting together jigsaw puzzles. She had an inquisitive mind and when she discovered the computer (at a relatively late time in her life), she was hooked! She would visit online with her friends and family for hours, and it gave her great joy to be able to do that any time of the day or night. She really loved to receive—and pass along—those irrepressible blonde jokes, and the “Maxine” e-mails were among her favorites. She also liked to remember everyone’s birthday with the online Jacquie Lawson e-cards. She sent the cards not only on birthdays, but on every other holiday and special occasion imaginable.
In truth, she had always loved receiving and sending cards of all kinds long before the Internet was invented. Her office drawers at home are still filled with every single birthday, valentine, Mother’s Day, and Christmas card she ever got. She would bring some of them out on special occasions and read the messages, remembering the people who had remembered her. It gave her great comfort.
As Sandy aged, she developed some serious health problems and had to slow down. But it was at that point in her life that her Christian faith began to grow stronger and bring her peace. She created a Prayer List for those in need and maintained it even when she didn’t feel quite up to the task. She was a strong believer in the power of prayer and could point to examples right there on her Prayer List that showed God was listening.
All in all, she had a full, satisfying life and left behind a loving family. Sandy is survived by her sister Jennifer Ruth Young and husband Richard of Missouri City, TX; her daughter Robin Fulks of Cypress, TX; her son David Jones and wife Diane of Huntington, TX; her grandchildren and their families: Heather Mulcahey of Kingwood, TX; Hugh Edward Haas of Cypress, TX; Jessica Montanez of Houston; Angela Jones of Onalaska, TX; and Dana Alford of Shepherd, TX. She is survived by numerous great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild, along with several nieces and nephews, all living in Texas.
Sandy had a blessed life. And we were blessed to know and love her and be a part of that life.
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