Sandra L. Heffner

Sandra Lee Heffner, age 85, passed away on Thursday, September 5, 2024, at North Woods Village in Kalamazoo. Sandy was kind, funny, patient and a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She loved reading, crossword puzzles, golfing, and spending time with her family. 

Sandy was born in South Bend, Indiana on June 18, 1939, to the late Robert Tarpley Mitchell and the late Carmen Lucille Mitchell. Sandra was active in her childhood and enjoyed playing with the neighborhood kids, especially baseball with her brother, Larry Robert Mitchell. Sandy attended South Bend John Adams High School and graduated in 1957.

After high school, Sandy attended South Bend Memorial Hospital School of Nursing and graduated with a nursing degree in 1960. While there, she met her future husband, James Richard Heffner. They were married on May 20,1961 and relocated to Kalamazoo. In 1965, they moved to Espinola, Ontario Canada, before returning to Kalamazoo in May 1967, where they raised their family. 

Sandy began her nursing career with a brief tenure at South Bend Memorial prior to her marriage. In 1970, she returned to work at the VA Hospital in Battle Creek as a registered nurse on the psychiatric ward before becoming the head nurse of the substance abuse ward. Sandy’s family recalls her handling a complex job with wisdom, humor, and grace. Sandy retired in September 1995. After Jim retired in 1999, Sandy and Jim spent the winter months in Punta Gorda, Florida.

Sandy’s greatest joy in life was the extended loving family that she and Jim built during their 63 years of marriage. Sandy regularly attended her children’s many sporting events and activities, including filling in for Jim to coach her son’s team to a Little League victory. She ended her coaching career undefeated.

Sandy will be dearly missed by the family that survives her: husband, James Richard Heffner; brother, Larry (Mary Ellen) Mitchell of Grainger Indiana; and children, James (Wendy) Heffner of Kalamazoo and David (Diane Wagner-Heffner) Heffner of Ann Arbor. She also leaves behind her much-beloved grandchildren: TJ (Liesel) Heffner of Palm Desert, California, Sawyer Heffner of Rancho Mirage, California, Delaney Heffner of Chicago, Illinois, and Nathan Heffner of Flagstaff, Arizona. Sandra was also a joyful great-grandmother of Hudson Heffner. 

Sandra will be lovingly remembered at a memorial service on Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 11:00 am at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 247 W. Lovell St., Kalamazoo, MI 49007. A visitation will take place on Friday, October 11, 2024, from 5:00-8:00 pm at Langeland Family Funeral Homes Burial & Cremation Services, 622 South Burdick St., Kalamazoo, MI 49007.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or Careline Hospice, as a memorial tribute to Sandra Heffner. Donations to the Alzheimer’s Association can be made at act.alz.org; donations to Careline Hospice can be sent to 770 Kenmoor Ave. Ste 100, Grand Rapids, MI 49546.