Sandra Weidmeier
May 4, 1957 - December 23, 2017
Sandra Weidmeier was born Sandra Ellen Mauk to Ray and
Lavonne Mauk on Eglin Air Force Base in Florida on May 4th, 1957. As
a child, Sandra adored singing and drawing, which became lifelong loves. She
found that she had a naturally operatic voice with no coaching, and she would
play the soundtrack from Disney’s Sleeping
Beauty repeatedly because she relished her ability to reach all the notes
that Princess Aurora could.
Sandra graduated from West High School in Torrance in 1976.
During her high school years, she was active in modern dance productions and
backpacking. Her family would often go on camping vacations, and Kings Canyon
was her favorite destination because she loved riding surf mats on the river
with her six siblings. In her spare time as a teenager, Sandy enjoyed going out
on the local sportfishing boats. In her high school yearbook, she stated that
her dream was to sail around the world alone. During her twenties, she began to
race soling sailboats competitively. In 1984, she became the first woman to win
a soling race for the California Sailing Academy.
Sandra’s second marriage was to Thomas Ball, with whom she
had three daughters. She was already the mother of two when, on a whim, Sandy
decided to attend an open audition for the Long Beach Opera Company. Despite
not knowing what an aria was, her incredible voice earned her a place in the
chorus for two operas during the 1990 season—Cavalleria Rusticana and La Navarraise.
She would have loved to continue to race and perform, but she decided that she
wanted to focus on being a mother, especially after her third daughter was born
in 1992.
She changed careers multiple times, and often returned to
the classroom, studying a variety of subjects such as interior design, pest
control, real estate, and concrete inspection. Later in life, she found a great
sense of purpose volunteering on the tall ships of the Los Angeles Maritime
Institute. Whatever she was passionate about, she would throw herself into
completely. Her greatest passion in life, however, was her children. From
insisting on private school educations and extracurricular activities such as
dance, drama, and synchronized swimming classes, she was a loving and involved
parent known for being a second mom to many of her children’s friends, sewing
elaborate costumes, and for throwing amazing parties.
She found true love in her third husband, John Weidmeier,
and they married after mere months of courtship. While she was able, they
enjoyed traveling in their camper, and going out on the town to shows and
dinners. She was only able to live for a little over 7 months of marriage, but their
deep and abiding respect and adoration for each other was evident to everyone
they knew.
Sandy passed away on December 23rd, 2017, and is
survived by her loving husband, three daughters, five siblings, and her mother
and stepfather.
She lived her life to the hilt, and she will be greatly
missed.
