Sandra Lynn Bailey

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Laura Griffin

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Sandra Lynn Bailey

March 13, 1968 - March 15, 2022

We created a GatheringUs memorial to celebrate the life of Sandra Lynn Bailey. Collecting your stories and memories here will offer us great comfort. Click on the heart to let us know you were here and to receive email updates. Thank you for contributing to this lasting memorial.

OBITUARY

Sandra Lynn Bailey was born on March 13, 1968 in Billings, Oklahoma. She came from humble beginnings, but Sandi pulled herself up by the bootstraps and earned a full scholarship to SMU. After graduating with a BA in Communications, she landed a job at Ken Benson & Associates, kickstarting her career in public relations. She later obtained an Executive MBA from the SMU Cox School of Business. Sandi went on to serve as Executive Director... see moreSandra Lynn Bailey was born on March 13, 1968 in Billings, Oklahoma.

She came from humble beginnings, but Sandi pulled herself up by the bootstraps and earned a full scholarship to SMU. After graduating with a BA in Communications, she landed a job at Ken Benson & Associates, kickstarting her career in public relations. She later obtained an Executive MBA from the SMU Cox School of Business.

Sandi went on to serve as Executive Director of the Hotel Association of Greater Dallas for 12 years. She was fearless in her support of the hospitality industry. Sandi oversaw a rapid expansion of HANTX during her tenure and led numerous public-private partnerships to promote tourism. She emerged as a prominent civic leader and often appeared on local media as the voice of the hospitality industry.

"Positive networking always" was her motto and Sandi proudly held board of director and advisory committee positions with more than 20 non-profit organizations.

Yet it was Sandi's determination to rise above the challenges she faced with extraordinary grace that might just be her greatest achievement. Sandi overcame spinal cancer at 13, brain cancer at 32, and bronchiolitis obliterans (a deadly respiratory disease) at 52. Despite the chronic pain she endured for nearly 30 years, Sandi had gratitude for all. She felt an appreciation for life that filled her with kindness, warmth, wisdom, a radiant presence and deep loving compassion. She was grateful for each breath and found meaning and purpose in every encounter.

Sandi met her husband, Bob Westerlund, later in life. Together they shared a relationship like no other. Sandi and Bob were truly the love of each other's lives. They celebrated that love by embracing life to the fullest and travelling the world extensively. Sandi and Bob were planning a future of exploration always and in all ways.

That dream was suddenly cut short when a simple medical procedure went awry and Sandi slipped into a coma. She passed away peacefully at Parkland Memorial on March 15, 2022, with her mother and her husband by her side, holding her hands. Sandi was preceded in death by her grandparents, Dorothy Bailey and Jetty Bailey, her father Jim McKeown, her uncle Jim Bailey and her English bulldogs Arno, Eiffel and Buddha.

Sandi's spirit will live on in her beloved husband Robert (Bob) Westerlund and her treasured stepchildren: Jensen Westerlund of Los Angeles, CA and Kyrie Westerlund of New York, NY; her loving mother Linda (Bailey) Smith, her stepfather Benny Smith and Dani Bailey of Perry, OK; her uncles Ron Bailey (wife Diana) of Oklahoma City, OK, Richard Bailey and Kenny Bailey, both of Billings, OK; her mother-in-law Ann Westerlund and father-in-law Bob Westerlund, Sr. of Branford, CT; her sisters-in-law Beth Triche (husband Bernie) of Guilford, CT, Belinda Westerlund of Branford, CT, and Becky Coletta (husband Bob) of Pembroke, MA; as well as in her niece, nephews, several close cousins, many dear friends and her Cavapoo pup Bentley (Ms. Be).

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Monica Morrison:

May 15, 2022

This post is way overdue, and I am sorry for that. Sandi was a neighbor for several years, and I will always remember her as a gentle spirit and kind heart. She endured so many medical issues just in the time I knew her, but she always maintained a... more
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Sherri Sharp:

April 13, 2022 · via iPhone

I did not have the pleasure of knowing Sandi past our high school years but as a classmate, in my eyes she was bigger than life even back in the 80’s and seemed wise and worldly beyond her years. She was someone that was very admired and a dear friend... more
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Anna Frank:

April 13, 2022

My heart felt so heavy hearing this news. Sandi was such a gentle soul. It seems just completely unfair that after so much she fought through that a simple procedure would cause the world to lose her!

Sandi was my neighbor when I lived on Oriole in... more
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Linda Smith

April 13, 2022
Laura Griffin:

April 12, 2022

Sandi was a wondrous spirit. She lived in the moment and had such appreciation for life. I was blessed to have been her close friend these past 14 years and can still remember when the fashionable redhead (Miss B) moved in next door.

Sandi exuded... more
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