Sandra J. Evans

Sandra Jean Evans was born on September 4, 1946, in Glenwood Springs, the third child, and oldest daughter, of five children born to Austin F. and Doris Heuschkel. As were her siblings, Sandy was raised and grew up on a ranch 18 miles from the town of Glenwood Springs. Sandy thoroughly enjoyed the ranch lifestyle and she enthusiastically participated in many ranch chores. She was a self-described cowgirl, loved riding and often helping moving the cattle from one pasture to another. Sandy was schooled in the art of cooking at her mother's side on the ranch and, later in life, became an excellent cook in her own right, making the flakiest and best pie crust that one could imagine. Sandy used her mother's recipes for many of the candies and cookies that she made and served at her annual Christmas parties. Sandy attended elementary, middle and high school in Glenwood Springs, got very good grades and received a Glenwood Springs University of Colorado Alumni Grant, a tuition scholarship.In high school, Sandy was a member of the Glee Club, Pep Club, FHA and GAA and a contributor to the yearbook. Sandy was an excellent athlete but unfortunately the Glenwood Springs school system, like most other school districts throughout the nation, had little to no girl's sports teams, a situation Sandy long rued. One of her great loves at this time was singing in the choir in which she sang first soprano. She particularly enjoyed more difficult pieces like the Hallelujah Chorus which allowed her to display her wide range of scale. She had a beautiful voice to the end of her life. Because of her love of music, Sandy continued singing extemporaneously almost anywhere when the mood struck her and she would perform a show tune, croon a ballad or folk song or belt out some rock and roll. No more than ten days before her death, while sitting with her nurse on the edge of her hospital bed, the two were singing songs from the 1960s. This brought smiles to all those who entered the room. Such was Sandy. It was difficult for Sandy, living on a ranch miles from town, to maintain friendships with classmates who lived in town so she was wont frequently to ride her horse Lucky to the Martin Ditch, nestle amongst the chokeberry bushes and read her books. After moving to Denver, Sandy fostered and maintained many wonderful and long-lasting friendships. Over the years, Sandy charmed, and was loved by, a wide circle of friends. After high school and in 1965, Sandy attended the University of Colorado at Boulder on her scholarship. She left school in the middle of the second semester of her sophomore year and returned home. She later moved to Aspen where she held a variety of jobs. Ever the mountain girl, Sandy was in the perfect place to enjoy skiing, hiking and kayaking. On January 1, 1968, after a year and a half in Aspen, Sandy moved to Denver in order to attend the Parks School of Business. After her move to Denver, this inveterate mountain girl was never again to live in her beloved mountains. Sandy had just begun working at the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in Denver when, around the end of March, 1970, Sandy and her date for the evening attended a party in a home in which neither she nor her date had ever been. It was there that she met Morris for the first time. The two spent the entire night talking and laughing only to each other, much to the chagrin of her date who felt wholly ignored. During the party, Sandy gave Morris her name and telephone number. In due course, Morris telephoned Sandy for a date and the rest is history. After dating for 2 1/2 years, on Christmas Eve, 1972, Morris gave Sandy a Christmas card which contained a proposal of marriage. Sandy accepted. Morris and Sandy were married on May 4, 1973, in the home Sandy's parents had recently constructed on the Crystal River just above Carbondale which had a beautiful view of Mr. Sopris. Sandy was a beautiful bride. The next month, Sandy and Morris bought a house, a Craftsman bungalow, which continued to be their home for the rest of her life. Sandy's design ideas are all over the several remodels they did over the years. The artwork that adorns the home were all chosen by Sandy. In the end, 943 Steele Street was Sandy's house and home. After her marriage, Sandy left Mass Mutual in October 1973 and devoted her time to a number of projects, many of which revolved around their son Michael who was the joy of her life. Sandy was always an active mother and, during Mike's youth, she was constantly involved with his schools and with his school activities. She was also a Cub Scout den mother. If Mike had an activity, Sandy was there. Mike played little league football and Sandy attended all of his games. Sandy was a marvelous cook and a master gardener (though the house lot was small, she was able, through intensive gardening, to grow great quantities of tomatoes, onions, corn and other vegetables). She also had a plentiful herb garden and her flower gardens throughout the yard and in pots were admired by all who passed by. Sandy handled all of the family's finances, invested in the stock market (she followed the market closely) and maintained the accounts. For several years beginning in 1989, she adroitly handled the accounting, billing and accounts receivable of the Gordon Journal, a weekly newspaper in Gordon, Nebraska, which had been owned and operated by Morris' mother until the latter's death. Sandy performed these duties for nine years until the newspaper was sold. In the late 1970s, the city of Denver created a redevelopment plan for the entire city, a plan that, if implemented, would have a dramatic and devastating impact on the neighborhood. Without hesitation, Sandy became involved (Sandy called it ""being political"") and formed a neighborhood organization for the Congress Park area, an organization she dubbed the Congress Park Congress. She met and telephoned people in the area eight hours a day, held and conducted meetings (so well organized was Sandy that, on at least one occasion, a candidate for City Council appeared). For the year that she was involved, Sandy was courted by politicians (she got to know then Governor Richard Lamm) and business people. In the end, the plans for the redevelopment of the Congress Park area were scrapped by the City. In the fall of 1978, Sandy learned about a women's soccer team, the Freestylers, and she joined. Finally, Sandy was able to express herself athletically. After the first year, Sandy was asked to take over the team. She later helped coach a 12 year old girls' team and, on another occasion, coached an eight year olds' team which included Governor Lamm's daughter. In 1981, Sandy took over the Rocky Mountain Soccer League, an open league for women over 18, which had at first 12 teams, then growing to 27 teams. This was a full time eight hour a day job during the season. All the while doing this, she played coed soccer and, for one season, played indoor coed soccer. Sandy was so talented that she was asked, in the fall of 1984, to join a women's select over 30 team, the Colorado Stars, to vie for the national championship. Only highly skilled women were chosen to be on the Stars. Sandy was proud to be among the earliest women participating in national sports. The Stars travelled over the country playing in tournaments in cities like Las Vegas, Wichita, Phoenix (in 105 degree heat), Seattle and San Francisco. Then, in 1985 in St. Louis, the Stars won the Budweiser United States Soccer Federation National Women's Over 30 Cup Championship. The following year, the Stars were runners up, no small feat given the national competition. For the rest of her life, Sandy held the two medals she received as among her most revered possessions. In 1988, after the Stars last game Sandy was to play, she left soccer due to aching knees. After this, Sandy returned to the task of sharing her life with Morris and, beginning in 1994, the couple began their long held dream of travelling. Off they went on several extended road trips and on international jaunts to locales like the United Kingdom, China, Turkey, Peru, the Baltic sea countries, France, Germany, Italy and New Zealand. In 1996, Sandy also oversaw the marriage of her son Michael to Shannon and later became a doting grandmother to two lovely granddaughters. For many years, Sandy prepared lavish tailgate parties at CU football games which were admired by all as were her Christmas decorations and parties. Most of all, through all her adventures, her love for her family never flagged. Sandy loved and was loved. She will be missed. Contributions in Sandy's memory may be made to: The CU Foundation, Mail Stop A065, 13001 East 17th Place, Aurora, CO 80045. To ensure that your contribution reaches the Hematologic Malignancies Fund, note that the donation should be directed to: Fund No. 222249 (Heme Malig).