LAS CRUCES, NM — Sandra Helen Lewis Hiss 1940-2022. My dear Sandy passed away Sunday September 4 surrounded by her family.
Sandra was born June 6, 1940, in Escanaba, Mich. to parents Vincent and Dorothy Lewis. She graduated from Escanaba High School with honors and Ferris State University. Following college she moved to Jackson, Mich. where she played the string bass with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra. In 1963 she moved to Minneapolis, Minn. to work as a legal assistant where she met the love of her life Richard. They were married in 1964 and have enjoyed 58 wonderful years together. In 1968 we moved to Bristol, Rhode Island where both of our children were born. Richard worked for Raytheon and Sandy continued to work as a legal assistant in Providence. Sandy was active in the League of Women Voters and managed the Girl Scout cookie drive and the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF fund raiser at Halloween .
Moving to Las Cruces in 1979 Sandy discovered Duplicate Bridge. She became a Life Master in 1984, a Gold Life Master in 2008 and a Sapphire Life Master in 2019. Sandy was on the Board of Directors of the Las Cruces Symphony and the NMSU Masterworks Choir Guild where she helped raise money so students could tour Europe with the choir. She retired from the City of Las Cruces Legal Department in 2008. She and Richard enjoyed traveling to Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Panama, Europe and the Holy Land.
Sandy loved cooking with her grandchildren. Together they made and decorated dozens of cutout cookies as well as her famous cranberry bread. She and Richard would make over 60 loaves of bread at Christmas that she distributed to friends and neighbors. She was a gourmet cook who loved to entertain and “set a beautiful table”.
Sandra was preceded in death by her parents, sister Patricia Rock and brother Richard Lewis.
She is survived by her husband, Richard; children, David Hiss of Durango, Colo. and Sarah Crutchfield (Donavan) of Belen, NM; grandchildren Guy Nix (Erica) of Las Cruces and Katelyn Martin (Jeremiah) of Rio Rancho, NM; three great-grandchildren, Maverick Martin, Emerson Nix, and Ember Martin; brothers Dean (Lou) of Palm Springs, Calif. and Michael (Mary Beth) of Crown Point, Ind.; sisters, Susan Belleau (Brent) of Sault Ste Marie, Mich. and Linda Shaski of Escanaba, Mich.
The family would like to thank the staff of High Desert Hospice for their love and care during the last weeks. In lieu of flowers please donate to the Mesilla Valley Animal Shelter where she found the second love of her life, Marley. Services will be at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, in New Mexico on Saturday October 22 at 1 pm
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