Sandra Schloss

December 7, 1943 - February 3, 2024

Sandra Bowin Schloss, age 80, of Oakland, Calif., passed away on February 3, 2024 following a lengthy battle with vascular dementia. She was born on December 7, 1943 in Niagara Falls, N.Y., to Oscar and Irene Bowin. Sandra was described by many as brilliant, driven, energetic, loving, vibrant, kind, strong, supportive, and accomplished.

Sandra attended La Salle High School and went on to earn a BA from University of Rochester, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She had a successful early career as a public school teacher in North Carolina and New York. Later, she earned an MBA from the University of Rochester then worked as a Pricing Analyst at Xerox Corporation. She then took on her toughest and most rewarding job of being a full-time mother. She also led her family’s multi-year recovery efforts after the Oakland Firestorm.

In her free time, Sandra enjoyed tending to her formal gardens and was President of her local Garden Group. She had a deep passion for the beauty of the natural world, leading many outdoor adventures with her family and supporting non-profits that focused on nature and the environment. She also loved animals, spoiling many dogs throughout her life and even rescuing a couple of dogs and cats off the street.

Sandra was a devoted wife, mother, sister, aunt, great-aunt, and friend. She went out of her way to make other people feel loved, and she will be missed by many whose lives she touched. She is survived by her loving husband, Jim; her son, Clayton; her two sisters, Cynthia and Nancy; and her brother, Roger.

A memorial event will be conducted on Saturday, March 30, at 28 Westminster Drive in Oakland at 11 a.m. Contributions in Sandra’s memory can be made to the American Brain Foundation and/or the Institute on Aging.