Sandra Sheffield Crook

Sandra was born on Tuesday, September 7, 1943, to Paul and Carolyn (Buck) Sheffield in Jackson, MS.  She passed away Sunday, August 21, 2022, in Papillion, NE, after a degenerative journey on the road of Alzheimer’s disease.  Sandi lived all over the world as the daughter of an Army Corp of Engineers officer and then an Air Force officer’s wife.  She loved to tell stories of growing up in post WWII Germany, Tennessee, New York, and North Dakota; graduating from high school in Puerto Rico and attending junior college in Panama.  Following graduating with a BA in Art from the University of Mississippi in 1965, Sandi married James Crook (div. 1989).  Their five children were born while stationed in Texas, Arkansas, South Dakota, California, and Okinawa, before landing at Offutt AFB, in Bellevue, NE.  Sandi lived and raised her family in Papillion, NE, from 1979 until her death.

Sandi loved being artistic, whether designing specialized name boards, painting, running crafts at vacation bible school, or creating an entire gingerbread village from scratch for the Officer’s  Wives Club or church bazaar at Christmastime.  She could also make any plant grow, even when she received it half dead.  An amazing cook, Sandi made everything from casseroles on a budget to holiday feasts.  Chocolate chip cookies were almost always in the cookie jar!  Sunday mornings she could be found in a church pew doodling vines, leaves, and flowers on the bulletin while listening to the sermon.  Wednesday evenings, for many years, Sandi enjoyed bowling in a league with friends, and on warm summer nights she would take walks around the neighborhood.  The house always had at least a dog and a cat, but more times than not, a few others.

In the fall of 1985, Sandi joined the staff of Papillion-LaVista High School as a paraprofessional in the SPED department.  She worked in the classroom with students, in the hallways walking their schedules with them, or her favorite activity which was going out on job sites, helping to teach the students job skills which they could take into the world after graduation.  Oftentimes, when out and about with Sandi, you could hear someone hollering, “Mrs. Crook!  Mrs. Crook!”  You would turn to see the smiling face of one of her former students, happily employed and so excited to see her.  She always stopped to speak with them and always called them by name.

Sandra is preceded in death by her parents, Paul and Carolyn Sheffield, brother Rob Sheffield, and son-in-law, Randy Cahill. She is survived by daughter Christine (Mike) Clancy; daughter Karen Cahill; son James (David) Crook, Jr.; daughter Rebecca (Jason) Cahill; daughter Cynthia (Zach) Hogya; sister Carolyn (Mike) Bell; and grandchildren Brianna, Johnathan, Sean, Karolyn, Jordan, Thomas, Kyle, Hannah, Ryan, Samuel, Caleb, Gabriel, Sandra, Chloe, Joshua, Caroline, Gideon, and Jedidiah.