Sandra A Johnson

In the early morning hours of September 12, 2021, Sandra “Sandy” Ann Johnson of Albuquerque, New Mexico passed in her home surrounded by beloved family, friends, and devoted caregivers. With her newly adopted and cherished Sandia Mountains as a backdrop, Sandy fought a heroic battle with metastatic breast cancer with grace, dignity, and her ever-present sense of humor and optimistic realism. “I’m not afraid to die, she said. “I’m interested in what comes next.”

To say that she will be deeply missed is an understatement.

Sandy was preceded in death by her parents, Kenneth and Madge Long of Rialto, California.

She is survived by her sisters and brothers-in-law, Sharon and Milford Herman of Le Mars, Iowa and Shirley and Thane Crowder of Rigby, Idaho, her beloved cousin Cindy McIntosh, of Joshua Tree, California, and many other cousins and extended family. Sandy also leaves behind a wide circle of friends, not only in Albuquerque, but in Redlands and throughout Southern California, where she lived most of her life.

Sandy graduated from Eisenhower High School in Rialto, California in 1974 and later became a longtime resident of Redlands, California. After attending college, she worked for numerous companies around the country, eventually becoming an HR manager with several companies in the Inland Empire. In her spare time, she enjoyed gatherings of friends and family, gardening, reading, swimming, traveling, numerous spiritual, creative, and artistic pursuits, and, always, her cats.

In 2017, she returned to Albuquerque, a place she considered her soul’s home. Although her time in New Mexico was brief, it will, nevertheless, be her final resting place. Donations in her honor may be sent to Metavivor, a foundation that funds Metastatic Breast Cancer research.