Birth: November 4, 1961
Death: March 8, 2024
Location: Lot 143, Section 3, New Addition
Sandra Saladen Obituary
Sandra “Sandy” Jean Saladen, age 62, of Wood River, NE, passed away Friday, March 8, 2024, at Grand Island Regional Medical Center surrounded by her loving family. A celebration of life service will be held Thursday, March 14th, at 3 p.m., at All Faiths Funeral Home. The service will be live streamed on the funeral home website. Dan Naranjo officiating. A visitation will be held two hours prior to the service at the funeral home. Memorials suggested to the family for future designation.
The family is asking everyone to dress in either Kansas City Chiefs attire or racing attire. Sandra Jean was born in Council Bluffs, on November 4, 1961, to Ruthanne (Collins) and William E. Huff, Sr. She graduated from Underwood Iowa High School in 1980. She attended Dana College in Blair, NE, and graduated in 1984 with double majors in Elementary Education K-6 and EMH (Educable Mentally Handicapped) K-9. After graduation, she worked in a variety of medical fields (podiatrist, anesthesiologist, and Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital). She started working for the Omaha VA Medical Center in September 1989. She later transferred to the Grand Island VA Medical Center where she worked a variety of positions.
In May of 1994, Sandy was united in marriage to Tracy Saladen. They were blessed with their first daughter, in November 1994. The family moved to Wood River in November 1996. They were blessed with their second daughter in January 1997. She became active with her girl’s school activities where she was a room mom, Girl Scout Leader, Teammate Mentor, involved with PTO and most recently the Food Pantry/Backpack program. She loved following their school activities with one of her favorites being softball. She participated in Relay for Life where she was also the Hall Co Team Coordinator. Sandy was always a dedicated KC Chiefs football fan. She was an avid dirt track racing fan with her parents. Recently Tracy and her followed the MBSLM series and traveled all over the Midwest. They met lots of lifelong friends along the way. Sandy loved to do crafts and photography. She is survived by her husband, Tracy; daughters, Sarah (Thomas Lambert) and Mallory (John Esquivel); mother, Ruthanne Huff; brother, William “Billy” E. Huff, Jr. (Kathy); nephews and nieces, Jason (Kelly), Alissa and Mackenzie Fischer, Tony Huff, Jamie (Scott) Manhart and their children, Willow, Walter and baby number three; aunts, uncles, cousins and friends; in-laws, Don and Barbara Saladen. She loved Christmas and giving gifts. She loved to spoil children and had a special place in her heart for Gavin and Lydia Franssen, Scarlette and Karsyn Lambert. She was preceded by her dad, William, Sr., in July 2019; grandparents, William R. and Merle (Myler) and Ira and Helen (Whitmore) Collins.