Sandra "Sandy" Louise Hamilton

Sandra Louise Hamilton passed away on Tuesday, July 19, 2023, in Escondido, California at the age of 72. 

Sandy, as she was known to all, was born on December 4, 1950, in Kansas City, Missouri to her parents, Earnest Allen Dixon and Carolyn Louise Austin.  She spent her early years at the family home in Overland Park, Kansas, near Kansas City, moving to Lenexa, Kansas at age eight. 

She attended Shawnee Mission West High School.  While there she was introduced by a mutual friend to Bill Carlson.  After Sandy graduated from high school, she and Earl William (Bill) Carlson married on October 11, 1969.  They had two children together, a son, Dennis Allen Carlson, and, a daughter, Rebecca (Becky) Louise Carlson. 

Sandy initially worked as a bookkeeper and teller at Southgate Bank and then Lenexa Bank.  She later worked in a variety of capacities at B. F. Asher, a pharmaceutical company in Lenexa, Kansas.  After 24 years of marriage, she and Bill Carlson divorced.

Sandy later married a close family friend, William (Bill) Anderson Hamilton, on September 23, 1995.  Sandy next worked for many years primarily in Franchise Operations at the Applebee’s Restaurant Home Office until her retirement.  She and her husband lived together in Overland Park, Kansas, and later in Olathe, Kansas during this time. 

She and Bill enjoyed travel, having the opportunity to visit China, Italy, Australia, Great Britain, Greece, Turkey, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Russia, and Ireland, just to name a few of their many foreign journeys, in addition to travel throughout the United States.  She would also take more adventuresome trips with her friend, Ann Hamm, on safari in Africa, hiking the perilous Angels Landing in Zion National Park, Utah, and a multi-day hike, camping along the Inca Trail in Peru down to Machu Picchu.  Sandy also enjoyed bicycling and organized and was captain of the Applebee’s cycling team.  In addition, she volunteered for many years at the Rose Brooks Center in Kansas City, Missouri, a 24-7 facility that provided temporary housing, clothing, and legal assistance to women and their children in need of an escape from an abusive spouse in the household.  Bill and Sandy were married for 20 years.

After a divorce, Sandy moved to California and then married Glenn Kalscheuer on September 11, 2022.  Sandy enjoyed charity work in California, as a docent at the San Diego Safari Park, Meals on Wheels, and as a reading tutor for third graders at an elementary school in Escondido.

She is pre-deceased by her parents, her first husband, Bill Carlson, and her daughter Becky.  She is survived by her husband, Glenn Kalscheuer, her son, Dennis Carlson, her sister and brother-in-law, Sharon and Larry Durham, a half-brother, James Dixon, and a niece and nephew and their families.  Sandy will also be greatly missed by her many friends.

Sandy was cremated with her ashes distributed by her husband, her son, and friends.  A memorial with her friends is planned for her at the Shadow Glen Country Club in Olathe, Kansas for a date yet to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in memory of Sandra "Sandy" Hamilton, online at sdzwa.org/memorial or mailed to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, P.O. Box 120551, San Diego, CA 92112.

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