Sandra Elder, 76, Beloit
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Sandra Jean Elder
BELOIT – Sandra Jean Elder was born January 2, 1948, the youngest of two children to Wayne and Allene Belden. She passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.
Sandra grew up on a farm south of Beloit, Kansas and attended Hyde Country School District 62 for 8 years. She graduated from Beloit High School with the class of 1966. She went on to attend North Central Kansas Technical College in Beloit, Kansas.
During high school, she was courted by a neighbor friend, Lee Elder. They were high school sweethearts and have been inseparable from their early high school years. Prior to Lee starting his senior year at Fort Hays State University, they were united in marriage on August 31, 1968. Together they had two beautiful children, Shawn and Shannon. Lee and Sandra felt it was important for Sandra to stay home with their children until they were both in elementary school. During that time at home, she was able to daycare for other families. Her love for children was obvious. She took great pride in becoming a grandmother and helping care for her grandchildren over the past 23 years. She was the grandmother that came in and always had a knack for what to do and Katie, Eva, Wayne, Jimmy and Lincoln always loved when she was making memories with them.
She spent 37 years at the Mitchell County Hospital starting in 1987 in the pharmacy department, becoming a registered pharmacy tech and later moving to the surgery department in 2011. It was the perfect place for her to work as she had a genuine passion for helping people and she cherished the friendships she made with coworkers over those years.
As a young girl growing up on the Belden family farm, she always had a horse. With a saddle just her size, she rode her horses, Princess and Queenie, with much enjoyment and ease. When friends from town came to visit, they were anxious to ride her horse and Sandra loved to share. Yet she knew the horses would run towards the clothesline first thing with her not on.
Growing up, her mother was instrumental in teaching her to sew at a young age and doing sewing projects for 4H. She took great pride in receiving Grand Champion for a wool suit that she beautifully designed for the Kansas State Fair. Her love for sewing has continued throughout her life and she has always enjoyed teaching her granddaughters Kaitlyn and Eva sewing skills that they used to make quilts for 4H.
Her creative talents had developed through many early phases, from being a skilled seamstress, to detailed needlepointing, to her true passion of quilt making. With her love for quilting, she took her quilting skills to the next level when she acquired her two Berninas. She enjoyed making quilts to gift to family members and friends. With her friends, she would quilt monthly at the Scottsville Church along with the Pollyanna ladies and Minister Al. When she wasn’t quilting, she was getting together for lunch with friends, who nicknamed themselves the Quad Squad, which included Anita, Elaine, Vera, and the group grew to include Jeannine.
Sandra prioritized all family events. She never missed activities for Shawn and Shannon while they were in school and college and when we had to move in and out of the dorm, the sorority or college apartments, she was always there on time to get them through the next phase of life. When she became a grandmother and her first granddaughter was born on her birthday in 2001, she instantly became the grandma that was always there and on call for whenever she was needed. As more grandchildren were born, she managed to always find time to make it to all their events, whether it was 4H, school sports in Salina, Kansas, cattle shows around the state or flying to Dallas, Texas. She remained close with all the extended family, helping plan the family reunions and class reunions. She was the connector and the one that liked to organize the lunch and dinner meetups with friends and other visits with family.
Sandra and Lee enjoyed traveling by plane or car to grandchildren’s events from Dallas to Salina to Lincoln County and State Fairs. Their longest and most enjoyable trip was to visit Alaska with friends Harry and Barb McGrath and Jerald and Jonell Schenk. Her favorite part of the trip was a train ride to Denali before cruising along the Alaskan coast to Vancouver. Sandra also traveled with Lee to many auctions and Red Wing events which included several weekends a year to Des Moines, Iowa and Walnut, Iowa and Red Wing, Minnesota. They shared a passion for collecting Red Wing stoneware. She was always looking for a new iris pitcher to add to her pitcher collection. They always returned home with unique and rare pieces of Red Wing to add to their collection that spanned over 50 years.
Sandra was preceded in death by her parents, Wayne and Allene Belden; her father-in-law, Phillip Elder and mother-in-law, Joan Elder; her brother, Gary Belden and sister-in-law, Karen Belden; multiple aunts, uncles, cousins along with several close friends and classmates.
She is survived by her husband, Lee Elder of Beloit, Kansas; son, Shawn (Krystal) Elder of Lincoln, Kansas and daughter, Shannon (Gardner) Vass of Frisco, Texas and Misty (Elder) Serene of Salina, Kansas; grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Eva, Wayne, and Jimmy of Lincoln, Kansas; Lincoln Vass of Frisco, Texas. She is also survived by a brother-inlaw Scott (Jan) Elder of Leawood, Kansas and a sister-in-law Linda Frear of St Augustine, Florida. She was a proud aunt and is survived by Ryan (Erin) Elder and family in Overland Park, Kansas; Jamie (Kelly) Elder and family of Leawood, Kansas; Portia (Jamie) Sims and family of St Augustine, Florida; Tom (April) Belden and family of Beloit, Kansas; Tim Belden and family of Washington, Vermont; Traci (Thad) Kadel and family of Shickley, Nebraska and Terri Etter and family of Eudora, Kansas. She is survived by cousins and an amazing group of friends.
Memorial services will be at 11 AM Tuesday, February 20 at the Beloit Methodist Church. Visitation will be from 1-7 PM, with family present from 5-7 PM Monday at the Roberts Family Funeral Home. Cremation has taken place. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Heart Choices or the Sandra Elder Grandchildren Education Fund. Roberts Family Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.
Condolences may be left at www.robertsfamilyfs.com