Sandra Hinkle Bauer

Sandra "Sandy" Hinkle Bauer, age 78, passed away on Sunday, June 26, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas. She was born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania on November 17, 1943, to Edna Fay and John Edward Hinkle. As a young girl she moved with her family from Pennsylvania to Ann Arbor, MI. It was there she attended football games at the University of Michigan with her father and developed a deep passion for college football that stayed ever present for the remainder of her life. Her father, John, eventually took a job with General Electric, which brought about a move for the family to Clearwater, Florida where she attended Largo Senior High School. Following graduation, Sandy obtained her nursing degree and continued her nursing studies at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She then returned to Florida and began work at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Miami. During her time at Mt. Sinai, Sandy traveled to many different hospitals to provide nursing care. While working as a cardiac operating room nurse at the University of Florida in Gainesville, she met a surgery resident who would become the love of her life and adoring husband, Dr. Charles "Chuck" Bauer. Sandy had a great deal of compassion for her patients and touched many lives through her nursing work.

When Dr. Bauer was to be stationed in Japan during the Vietnam War, Sandy changed her occupation to stewardess for Airlift International, so they could remain together. While working for the airline she led a team of stewardesses as they transported American soldiers from stations around the Orient to their duties in Vietnam. Sandy and Chuck were married in Tokyo, Japan on April 26, 1968. Through this devoted marriage, Sandy became the stepmother of Chucks five sons: Michael, Gregory, Christopher, Eric, and Stephen.

In 1971 Sandy and Chuck returned to the United States at Hamilton Air Force Base where their first daughter Gretchen Lynn Bauer was born. Sandy was a loving, patriotic wife of an Air Force Officer who gracefully supported her husbands duties at Tachikawa, Hamilton, Langley, Luke, and Keesler Air Force Bases during her husbands illustrious military career. When Dr. Bauer retired from the Air Force in 1982, Sandy moved with her family to San Antonio, Texas. It was shortly after the move that their second daughter, Kathryn Leigh Bauer, was born.

Though not a native Texan, she developed a fierce love for the State. During life she remained loyal to her family, friends, and The University of Texas Football team. Ever the consummate hostess, there was little that she loved more than having her family together under her roof and made every holiday gathering one to remember. She had the unique ability to welcome many people into her heart and home, treating them not as friends, but as family. People she loved dearly and considered her sons are Jonathan Borden (wife Cheryl and daughter Alexa) and Chris Samuels.

With too many exemplary qualities to list, Sandy will always be remembered by her family and friends for her assertive stubbornness, as well as her thoughtful generosity. Sandy found joy when sailing, traveling through various wine countries, attending Texas Longhorn football games, listening to a variety of music, and watching historical dramas.

Sandy was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 48 years, Col Charles R. Bauer, M.D., and her parents. She is survived by her children, Gretchen Ornia Pacher and husband Osvaldo, Kathryn Leigh Bauer, M.D. and husband Christopher John Cooper, M.D.

FUNERAL SERVICE

MONDAY, JULY 18, 2022

11:30 AM

PORTER LORING MORTUARY MCCULLOUGH

Chaplain Ronald Leininger will officiate. Interment will follow in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery at 1:30 PM. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Wreaths Across America https://wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/171699 or to the Charles R. Bauer M.D. Memorial Fund makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu/bauer

A reception at Flemings will follow the service from 2:30 to 5:30. Flemings is located at 255 East Basse Road, Suite 200, San Antonio, TX 78209.Click here to live stream the service of Sandra Hinkle Bauer