LARNED — Sandra L. Gray, 67, died Feb. 4, 2015, at Hays Medical Center after a long illness.
She was born to Roberta (Wills) and Roger Allen in Olympia, Washington, on March 21, 1947.
Throughout most of her adult life, she was a social worker, employed by Kansas SRS, Larned State Hospital, and similar facilities in Washington State. She graduated from Olympia High School in 1965 and then attended Hutchinson Junior College and Fort Hays Kansas State College, earning her bachelor’s degree in history in 1969. In 1980, she graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence with a master’s degree in social work. She retired from the Larned State Hospital staff in 2013. Since September of 2014, she had been a resident of DiversaCare in Larned.
In 1970, she married Mike Westerman in Hays. They were separated in 1989 and divorced in 1993. In Washington, she married Dr. Carroll Gray in 1993; he died in 2000. Sandra is remembered for her love of reading, English comedies on PBS, jewelry, and her two dogs, Mack and Katie.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
Survivors include her daughter Stephanie (Westerman) Helms and fiancé Chris Cooley, Larned; two grandchildren, Cassie Williams and fiancé Tony Chesney, Larned; and Michael Tiede, Manhattan; and a great-granddaughter, Annabelle Chesney. Other survivors include sisters Linda Ogden, Tumwater, Wash., Donna and husband Kurt Salvatori, Burren, Wash., and Barbara and husband Billy Pruett, Olympia, Wash.
Memorial Service will be 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Beckwith Mortuary Chapel with Rev. Bethann Black presiding. Friends may sign the register from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday with family present from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Mortuary. Cremation has taken place.
Memorials are suggested to the Pawnee County Humane Society in care of the Beckwith Mortuary, P.O. Box 477, Larned, KS 67550. Personal condolences may be left at www.beckwithmortuary.com.

Funeral arrangements provided by
Beckwith Mortuary, Inc. *
916 Main
Larned, KS 67550
Great Bend (Kan) Tribune, Feb. 6, 2015