Click here to view the virtual Celebration of Life held for Sandra Sue Phillips on July 4th, 2020

Sandra Sue Phillips passed away on Friday, February 14^th surrounded by her four children and the comfort of her own home.  She was a loving wife and life-partner to her husband Alan (deceased), and a loving and inspirational mother to her four surviving children, Andrea, Buck, Reid, and Lincoln.  Her spirit and strength were witnessed by the grace and character she displayed in her long, hard battle with cancer, which ultimately took her life.

Sandy was born on July 4th, 1935 to Laurence and Susana Griswold in Fort Madison, Iowa. After graduating from Franklin High school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, she followed her adventurous heart by leaving Iowa to study art at the University of Colorado in Boulder. There she joined the Alpha Phi sorority and met the man she would spend the rest of her life with, Alan Phillips (Al).  Sandy and Al were married in September of 1956 and spent their honeymoon bicycling from Colorado to Edmonton Canada where Al played semiprofessional baseball for the season.  Sandy and Al moved back to the States after Al joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1957 where they spent the next several years between Quantico Virginia and Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California.  They were blessed with their first child, Andrea, in 1960 while in California.  Sandy and Al moved back to Colorado to raise a family following Al’s release from active duty with the U.S. Marines Corps.

Sandy was an avid adventurer and explorer in many fields of life. Always curious and open to ideas and experiences and especially people. She had a gift for engaging everyone around her and bringing out their stories. She always wanted to hear about “you” first and didn’t always offer much of her own story. So here are some of the highlights of that story; as a child, she had many adventures exploring the woods of her Iowa home. Her father was an entertainer acrobat and performer, when they were old enough she and her brother, Victor, would join him traveling the U.S. & Canada while their mama stayed home with the two little sisters Mary Jane and Donna Kay. Later she spent Summers at camp lake Hubert, Minnesota where she developed her talent in athletics, continuing on to win awards in swimming and marksmanship. In high school, she lettered in athletics, performed international dance, published poetry, and was chosen as Homecoming Queen in 1954.  She also caught the “art bug” but in 1956 she “took a break” from her art degree to get married and immerse herself in raising her four children. She absolutely loved being a mother and all the aspects of nurturing young lives and exploring the world with her children, she was excellent at it. Almost thirty years later, having launched her children into adult life, she returned to the University of Colorado, Boulder to complete her art degree in 1985. During her life she tried her hand at ranching, the antiques trade, ceramics, painting, climbing and dance, Sandy and Alan could dance the Jitterbug “like no-one’s business!”.  Sandy lived in Paris for 6 months with her two small children, trekked to the base camp of Mt. Everest, ran logistics for Outward Bound in Utah, sailed the Caribbean and the Greek islands, and made a number of sojourns in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, and Mexico along with many mountain road trips.

She passed on Valentine’s day. She was a valentine to us all. She remained this curious, listening, loving, supportive, caring, silly, serious, whimsical, laughing, creative, searching, involved, fiercely independent spirit all her days. We feel her brightness and her “big hugs” surrounding us still. 

Sandy has been a member of the Denver Junior League, the Colorado Arlberg Club the Board of the Denver Art Museum, and the C.U. Boulder foundation. 

She has been preceded in death by her husband Alan Phillips, and her three siblings Victor, Mary Jane, and Donna Kay. She is survived by her four children Andrea, Buck, Reid, and Lincoln as well as six grandchildren.

--(Text by Andrea Phillips, Sandy's eldest daughter)--