Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Beloved mother, friend, sister, and self-proclaimed weirdo, Sandra (Sandy) Sawyer, 72, of Gills Rock, Wisconsin, passed away on November 27, 2025. Never giving up but deciding it was time, she took her final breaths peacefully surrounded by her loved ones.
Born November 19, 1953, in Peoria, IL to Albert and Donna Brandt, Sandy was the second of her parents’ five children. Older brother Dave and younger siblings Steve, Linda, and Jerry were raised in the suburbs of Washington D.C.
When her parents retired to Door County, WI in the mid 1970’s, Sandy enjoyed moving around before settling in Norfolk, VA to start her family. After the birth of her four children, Sandy and family joined her parents in Wisconsin. Sandy loved living in Door County, in a home she carefully cultivated and surrounded by her beautiful gardens. Her favorite days were spent gardening; growing things to feed the folks she loved. And she loved no one more than her four children; holding unlimited grace, care, and kindness for them, but never hesitating to crush them in a game of ping pong or poker.
Although she said it often, weirdo probably isn’t the first word you’d use to describe Sandy. Perhaps she liked the title because of her odd love of watching soccer (despite being a tried-and-true Packer’s fan) but that had a lot to do with the pride and joy she took in seeing her grandson excel on the field. More likely she was referencing the profound camaraderie she shared with her granddaughter, Gracie, another self-styled weirdo.
Sandy took great pride in telling folks that she worked in the Butik of Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant. For over thirty years, Sandy shared strength, humor, and generosity with everyone she encountered in “the place with the goats on the roof.” She treasured working in a place that connected her to her Scandinavian ancestry and that gave her a second Swedish family; all the people she loved to work with.
A forever hippie, Sandy was an avid concert goer, former VW camper driver, and a lovely, long-haired flower child. When listening to the radio she was eager to share that she’d seen this band or those singers in concert. Olivia Newton John, James Taylor, Pink Floyd, you bet she saw them live. But the one band she never got to see in person remained her favorite: The Beatles. It’s her children’s greatest hope that she’s now driving her old camper across the universe, picking up lost friends and loved ones on her way to a concert in the stars— where maybe George and John will sit in for a song or two.
Those who remain include her two brothers Steve (John) Brandt and Jerry Brandt; sister Linda (Larry) Frea; two sisters-in-law Kari Brandt and Gloria Fischer; four children Anna (Josh) Olson, Mary (Shawn) Sawyer, John (Journey) Sawyer, David (Brandon & Wendy) Sawyer; two grandchildren Gracie Bongle and Daniel Olson; and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews; and her devoted dog, Abbey. Sandy was preceded in death by her parents, Albert and Donna, her favorite Aunt Pat, and her big brother Dave.
A Celebration of Life for Sandy Sawyer will be held at a later date. Forbes Funeral Home is serving the family. Donations in Sandy’s honor can be given to the Go Bo Foundation or Door Cancer.
