Sandy passed away at home in Fallon, Nevada, after a 9-year-long battle with small-cell lung cancer. She was 81.
Sandy was a beacon of light, joy, and love for her family and everyone who knew her. She was born in Springfield, Illinois, to parents Robert and Avo Hancock. As a child, she spent time in Germany, where her father, a US Army Air Corps captain, participated in the Berlin Airlift Operations.
When her father was assigned to March Air Force Base (AFB), the family settled in Riverside, California, where she grew up and attended local schools. She graduated from Riverside Poly High School in 1962. Shortly thereafter, she began a family with her then-husband, Walter McAlister. They had three children, Kristine, Robert, and Karen.
Later, Sandy became a single mother raising her family alone until she remarried Franklyn Sepsey in 1988.
Sandy was a strong, independent woman. After moving to Independence, California, she worked in local stores until she was offered a job with the county’s school bookmobile library. Demonstrating a strong work ethic, she was offered a trainee position at the Inyo County Auditor's Office. She excelled, advancing to management positions over the next 27 years until she retired with 30 years of service in 1997. Her husband, Franklyn Sepsey, passed away in 2001.
In 2005, she met Larry Whiteley on a dating app, found they had many common interests, and grew up just 10 miles apart. They were an instant love match, and she moved to Fallon, Nevada, shortly thereafter. They married in 2013 and both considered each other the best thing they ever found on the internet.
A loving, caring person, she was deeply devoted to her family and often expressed her love for her husband and family members. While in Fallon, she was a volunteer at the Banner Churchill Hospital Auxiliary for 13 years, logging 4,000 volunteer hours.
She is survived by her husband Larry Whiteley, her daughters Kristine Sherritt (Scott), Karen Roberts (TJ) and son Robert McAlister (Faith); grandchildren Jaqueline (Jon), Courtney (Sergei), Eli, Haley, Samuel, Polly (Dylan), Mark Dale (Nichole), Michael, Paige, and Andrew (Savannah); great-grandchildren Gabriel, Lulubelle, Isaak, Birdie Rose, and Autumn; her sisters Carol (Jim), Patricia (Scott), Kathy (Chris) and a brother Larry (Ayda).
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Robert Hancock (Mary Jane), her grandson Christopher Roberts, great-grandson Brixton Christopher, and her husbands Franklyn Sepsey and Walter McAlister. Sandy will be buried in Independence, California, on February 28, 2026. A celebration of life reception will follow at the Pioneer Memorial Methodist Church.
A celebration of life is planned for March 7 at 1 p.m. at the First Southern Baptist Church, 900 S. Taylor St., Fallon, Nevada, for friends and family in the local area. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles or the Banner Churchill Hospital Auxiliary Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1707, Fallon, Nevada, 89407.
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