Colleen Rae Sands
Nov. 25, 1945 — Nov. 6, 2020
Born in the Jacksonville Florida, Naval Hospital in 1945, Colleen spent her childhood in the East Bay and Boulder Creek, California, and graduated from San Lorenzo Valley High School in 1963.
After serving three years in the Navy as a medic in South Carolina and Florida during the Vietnam War, Colleen lived in Sayre, Pennsylvania from 1967-1972, and earned her nursing degree from Corning Community College. In 1972, Colleen moved back to Santa Cruz County with her young daughters, where she worked several years as a nurse at Stanford University Medical Center, and over 20 years at Dominican Hospital.
After she retired from nursing in the early 90s, Colleen embarked on a second career as a mosaic artist, traveling to many countries to see well-known mosaic works. She attended many workshops to develop her skills, including learning many mosaic styles and how to build her own armatures. Her many works will continue to be enjoyed by friends and family.
Colleen loved to travel and visited many different countries, including bicycle tours in Ireland and France. She enjoyed meeting people, and was a member of SERVAS. She also explored the United States, Baja Mexico and Canada.
She loved gardening and collected strange and unusual specimens including bamboo, bananas, succulents, aquatic and carnivorous plants. She was an avid reader, was always curious and had an enthusiasm for life. She loved her dogs and, on her daily dog walks, she established many friendships.
In 2014, Colleen moved to Columbia to be near her daughter, Kimberly Baker, and family: husband Carl and her beloved grandchildren, Carson and Kathryn.
In her adopted town, she enjoyed her new friends as part of the rock garden society, book club and David Keller’s exercise class.
In addition to the Bakers, she is survived by her daughter, Wendy Selleck, of Boulder Creek; sisters Sharon Potter, of Santa Cruz, and Margie Plog, of Grass Valley; brothers Don Sands (San Diego), Jim Sands (Boise) and Ken Sands (Thailand/ Redding).