Sandra Woodman Snead - Obituary

andra Woodman Snead, affectionately known as “Sandy” to her friends, passed away on Thursday, February 23, 2023, in her home on Akron Street in Marlow Heights, Maryland, just 2 days prior to her 42nd birthday (She refused to acknowledge her age, and wouldn’t accept being any older than 42 in polite conversation). Born in 1943, Sandy was raised primarily in Washington, D.C., and Calvert County, Maryland. She had a rough childhood, shuttling between her mother and grandparents. This forced her to be self-sufficient at a very young age. When she settled in Calvert County as a teenager, she finally found a more peaceful, happy life on the beach at Breezy Point. Sandy went to Calvert High School but did not graduate with her peers. She would eventually earn her high school diploma at the age of 63 from Crossland High School. She met William “Bud” Snead in Washington, D.C., and they were married on November 11, 1961. They started a family and had two children. Sandy was a devoted mother who loved to be with her kids and make them happy. She chaperoned every field trip she could, taught the PE class at her kids’ Catholic grade school, and got her children involved in as many different activities as she could. She drove them to be the best they could be, and to never give up. Sandy was also a mom to anyone who needed one—friends, neighbors, or strangers—and she made a difference in the lives of many: The generations of Akron Street kids that she put band-aids on, who all called her Ms. Sandy or “Mom.” Her children’s classmates and friends, who she chauffeured back and forth to school and events in her station wagon, “Mom’s Taxi.” An upset young mother or teenager in the grocery store, who she would reach out to and help out of sheer kindness. The countless coworkers or patrons she connected with at her jobs, who came to her for advice (or received it unsolicited). Sandy was encouraging and positive, but also a straight talker who did not traffic in BS. If there was something she wanted to say that she thought was in your best interest, she did not mince words. You were going to hear it from her, whether you liked it or not. Sandy was dedicated to working. Over the years, she was a bank teller and branch manager at First National Bank in Washington, D.C., and later at First Union Bank. She was also an interior decorator with Home Interiors & Gifts for many years. Her last place of employment was the Seafarer’s International Union, where she was a secretary and switchboard operator. This job really kept Sandy going. She was still working there just 5 months before she passed, and often talked in the last weeks of her life about going back to work there. In each position, she made many friends, most of whom became family for the rest of her life. She loved the beach, and her home decor reflected that: jars of seashells, flip-flop decorations, and paintings of scenes of the bay. Sandy enjoyed gardening as well, tending plants and flowers in the front and backyard of her home. She made great fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. Her favorite dish was eggplant parmesan. She loved watching Law & Order and Blue Bloods. And she was an expert at folding fitted sheets. In 2012, Sandy was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was successfully removed. The cancer came back in 2018, and she was given two years to live. But the cancer didn’t know who it was dealing with. She started chemotherapy and was not afraid of switching treatments when one faltered, regardless of side effects. She fought for five years and was still considering starting another round of chemotherapy just weeks before she passed. Her family is extremely proud of her courage and her resolve. To them, she will always be a hero. Sandy Snead was the most strong, brave, independent, and selfless person that her family and many of her friends ever met. The world was a happier, more caring place with her in it. She is survived by her daughter, Lisa Ingold (Ray), and her son, Tim Snead (Paulonne); grandsons, Matthew Lund (Julie) and Jake and Eli Snead; and great-grandsons, David and Caleb Lund. She is also survived by her sisters, Christine Hall (Donnie) and Dorothy Jo Schneider, along with many nieces and nephews; by her boyfriend of many years, Anthony Haley; and by her lifelong friends, Jackie Fadely, Sharon Gerlach, Helen Hottle, Judy Martin, and Sharon Puckett, all of whom she loved like sisters. Visitation will be Friday, March 10, from 10 a.m. to noon, at the Kalas Funeral Home in Oxon Hill. Services immediately to follow.