Sandra Grace Shepherd (Swain)

On Tuesday, March 30th, 2021 at approximately 2pm in the heart of the San Francisco Castro District and her beloved Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer + community, Sandra Grace Shepherd (Swain), after an adventure filled with kind actions, loving relationships, thoughtful guidance, and joyous humor, took the next step in her journey. Born Sandra Grace Swain in 1941 in Santa Monica, California to Charles J. Swain and Leonora Ferne Swain, Sandra, more lovingly known as Sandy, began developing relationships that have lasted forever. After graduating from high school, Sandy began nurturing her passion for caring for others by enrolling in the Kaiser Permanente School of Nursing program. After achieving Registered Nurse (RN) status, she continued her professional growth, working for various medical organizations, including, but not limited to, the Lassen Community Hospital, Laguna Honda Medical Center, and Kaiser Permanente. As an RN Sandy employed her compassionate and empathetic personality to improve the lives of others in multiple fields, including Pediatrics, AIDS research, and Hospice Care. While Sandy is survived by her two brothers Michael and Larry, her children Robert, Rebecca, and John, and multiple grand and great grandkids, most importantly, Sandy’s cheerful, witty, candid, and harmonious legacy is evident in the innumerable deeply rooted relationships she nurtured her entire life. At times these relationships were built through her extraordinarily robust musical endeavors. Others were built through her passion for supporting specific causes locally, regionally, and globally. Some were simply built as the result of her passion to quilt, sew, and/or knit whatever was needed to make someone smile. While it is impossible to accurately account for all of her friendships, threads of indiscriminate kindness, affection, and advocacy for what is right and just, are quilted, sown, or knitted into the fabric of them all.

While no immediate celebration is planned to honor the life of Sandra Shepherd due to COVID constraints, anyone interested in immediately honoring the values of Sandra Shepherd should contact The Threshold Choir at https:// www.thresholdchoir.org/ webform/making-donation to support their efforts. Threshold Choir brings presence and comfort through song to those who are dying. With a wide repertoire of songs, some old and familiar and some original, members sing in groups of 2-3 at the bedsides of those who are dying, and their loved ones. Sandy was an early member of Threshold Choir, and later on was a recipient of their services. She knew in her bones the power of singing and how it can help connect and comfort. Another option is The Ocean Conservancy at https://oceanconservancy.org/ways-to-give/ to provide a donation in her name. May we all live a life of kind-heartedness, tolerance, and thoughtfulness, as exemplified by Sandra Grace Shepherd.