Sandy was born in Roswell and raised on a farm outside of Dexter, New Mexico, with her two sisters. She was hard-working and athletically gifted from a young age, running track and playing varsity basketball and volleyball as a Dexter High School Demon. She was named all-state 2A women’s basketball player of the year in 1980.

An amazing problem solver and challenge lover, she graduated from New Mexico State University with her bachelor’s in civil engineering technology in 1985. Sandy had an incredible work ethic, early on at her family’s farms and cotton fields, as a corrections officer, and on offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. She moved to Houston in the early 1990s, which was her home for most of her life. There, she worked as an environmental engineer doing compliance monitoring for the oil and gas industry before serving her community in the city of Houston’s Public Works, where she ensured safe drinking water, water treatment and emergency management throughout the city. She retired in 2022 and enjoyed traveling, making art, and spending time with friends and family.

Sandy was passionate about fitness and the outdoors. She ran multiple marathons and numerous 10Ks, 5Ks, and triathlons. Most recently, she ran the Bataan Memorial Death March marathon in March 2023. She was famous for supporting friends and family in their own challenges and adventures, and served on many support crews. Sandy backpacked all over the world in amazing landscapes, including Europe, Peru, Alaska, Colorado and Montana. She kayaked in Kerrville, canoe raced down the Colorado River, windsurfed on the Gulf of Mexico, and made close friends in sand volleyball leagues and running clubs in Houston. On her last vacation in September 2024, she hiked more than 70 miles in a week on Rob Roy Way in the Scottish Highlands. Everywhere she went she collected heart-shaped rocks, ever-mindful of the love that surrounds us.

Sandy cared deeply for others and did so much good in the world. She gave generously however she could. She loved animals, fostered scores of puppies and kittens, and served as treasurer of Houston’s Pup Squad rescue group.

But the most remarkable thing about Sandy was the deep and meaningful relationships she nurtured with everyone she knew. Sandy saw and loved every member of her large family for who they were. She went out of her way to maintain lifelong friendships, and everyone saw her kindness, caring, and desire for others to be happy. She provided loving care for her father, Dwight Sharp, when he was in memory care in Houston, and to her dear friend Darby Bruning when she was suffering from terminal breast cancer. Sandy married Fran Guilfoyle, and they were in a loving relationship for years. Though they later divorced, they remained friends. Through her marriage Sandy became a loving mother to Sophie Stratton, and then a fun, doting SanMa to her grandchildren, who loved her very much.

Everyone who knew Sandy will miss her dearly. She is survived by her mother, Mary Jane Sharp of Kerrville, Texas, sisters Eva Lynn Woelfel of Amboy, Washington, and Linda Ayers of Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, daughter Sophie Stratton, son-in-law Ross Stratton, and grandchildren Ayliffe and Orian Stratton of Barre, Vermont, as well as many uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, and the countless friends she cherished deeply.

Celebrations of Life will be held in Dexter, New Mexico on February 1, 2025, from 11am-2pm at the Dexter High School cafeteria, and in Kyle, Texas on February 8, 2025, from 1pm-4pm at The Plant. For more information on the celebrations or to donate in her honor, please visit https://everloved.com/life-of/sandra-lee-sharp/