Sandra B. James, born Sandra Beth Bryson, was born on December 9, 1941, in Brady, Texas to Walter Louis Bryson and Marjorie Elizabeth Bryson. She is survived by her children, Scott James, of Sarasota, Florida, and Jenifer Farrell, of Louisville, her grandchildren, Conor Farrell and Lia Farrell, of Louisville, her sisters, Patti Mullen of Highland Village, Texas, and Judy Combs, of Mansfield, Texas, her nephews Shane Mullen and Jason Mullen of Dallas, Texas, and nieces Lauren Combs Mead of Mansfield, Texas, and Mallory Combs of Littleton, Colorado.
Sandy’s father spent the first four years of her life fighting in WWII, and she grew up with her mother in the home of her grandparents, Jack and Estelle Crew. While growing up with her mother and grandmother, these strong women imprinted on Sandy’s life the importance of being a strong independent woman herself. She would ride her pony, Junebug, around her family’s ranch and pretend that she was Dale Evans. She had the spunky personality of a redheaded girl. Her family vividly remembers that upon her father’s return, and after having been sent black-and-white photos of his daughter for four years, her father exclaimed, “Marge, this child has red hair!”
After graduating from North Texas State in Denton, TX, Sandy left her home state to come to Colorado to teach “for just one year” with three other friends in Jefferson County Schools; in Colorado, she met her future husband -- she did not stay “for just one year.” They ultimately married and had two children; though the marriage ended in a divorce, she was happy to call Colorado her home for the rest of her life, even if her Texan accent remained. She raised her children as a single mother and strove to imbibe in them a sense of curiosity and of constant learning. She spent 28 years as an elementary teacher, mostly teaching 4th grade at Devinny Elementary, in Lakewood. She loved to tell her students the story of being born two days after Pearl Harbor was bombed; her life was filled with looking at small things and turning them into lessons. She enjoyed researching her family history, going all the way back to the Mayflower, volunteering at the Molly Brown House, doing volunteer work for the JeffCo Action Center, volunteering for the 2008 Obama Campaign and for local Democrats, traveling internationally and nationally, and spending time with her friends and family. She especially loved being a grandmother to her two grandchildren.
Her life will be celebrated on October 26, 2019, at 9:30 AM at Olinger Crown Hill Pavilion of Reflection. Attendees are requested to wear clothing in Sandy’s favorite autumn colors of red, orange, and green.
In lieu of flowers please make donations to ourbrainbank.com, a project that is working to bring glioblastoma multiforme brain tumors from terminal to treatable.
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