PEBBLE BEACH, CA – Sandra Lee Hornbuckle died at Community Hospital on July 23, 2012 following a short, eight week battle with brain cancer. She was born September 16, 1941, in St. Paul, MN, to Ed and Florence Schmidt but spent her youth on a farm in Garfield, MN. After graduating from Jefferson High School, Alexandria, MN, in 1959 she became a student at the Minneapolis General Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1962 as an RN. In 1977 she obtained a BS in Health Science from Northeastern University, Boston, MA.
Just after receiving her RN she married Gale Hubred and moved to Midland MI, where she first practiced nursing at Midland Hospital. In 1968 She moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where she practiced at Queens Medical Center, and then to Berkeley, CA, in 1970 where she practiced at Alta Bates Hospital. She did private duty nursing after moving to Lexington, MA in 1974. During these years while working in intensive Care, Operating Room and Coronary Care, she raised two children, Kent and Jill, supported the family financially while Gale pursued his MS in Hawaii and PhD at CAL Berkeley, and found time to learn tennis, fencing, scuba diving, Tahitian dancing, hula, ukulele, modern dancing, jazz dancing, belly dancing and yoga.
In 1980 she married, Gary Hornbuckle and moved to Austin, TX, with Kent and Jill and Gary’s two children, Sterling and Stephanie. In Texas she quit nursing to work with Gary in corporate finance and human resources as a full time manager. She also obtained a real estate license. In 1984 she moved to Pebble Beach, CA, and worked for Gary’s local company, Hornbuckle Engineering. She retired with Gary in 2000. During her working years with Gary she also found time to learn sailing, French, and Mandarin Chinese. She enjoyed golf as a member of Monterey Peninsula Country Club and was a very active tennis player as a member of the Beach and Tennis Club of Pebble Beach. She was also a member of the Stillwater Yacht Club. She and Gary have traveled to all 7 continents, including trekking in Bhutan, snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, and going on safaris in Kenya, Zambia and Botswana, just to name a few adventure trips. When traveling she wanted the local experience and refused to do anything she could do at home.
It is clear from all Sandra accomplished over the years that she was curious, adventuresome, and very intelligent and hard working. She never liked spectator sports – she wanted to be on the playing field. She never suffered fools and was a rational thinker, rejecting all forms of theism. Her passions for the last two decades were her grandchildren and animal welfare. She always had at least one pet cat and many friends. Sandra was very outgoing, and there was a good chance that everyone she met would soon say they considered her a friend. She was happy, upbeat, and continued her sense of humor even while undergoing numerous medical procedures the last ten years.
Sandra is survived by her husband, Gary, her son Kent Hubred of Granite Bay, CA, daughter Jill Lintukorpi of Boulder, CO, stepson Sterling Hornbuckle of Dripping Springs, TX, and stepdaughter Stephanie Thompson of Shawnee Mission, KS, as well as her sister Marlys Dropik, sister Janet Berger, and brother Chuck Schmidt, plus nine grandchildren and step-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the SPCA of Monterey County or Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula.
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