Sandra Landis

Sandra Dickerson Landis, beloved mother, grandmother, and educator, passed away
suddenly on Friday, November 20, due to a pulmonary embolism and its attendant
complications. She was 84.
“Sandy” was the only child of Arthur M. and Doris M. Dickerson and was born and
raised to adulthood in Cleveland, OH. The first in her family to attend college, she attained a BS
in Education from The Ohio State University in 1958 and an MA in Education from Case
Western Reserve University in 1962. She taught school at multiple levels throughout her life,
from middle school to the undergraduate level, in business education and information
technology. She married Gerald R. Hejduk in 1961 and withdrew from the work force to raise
her two children, Matthew and Rebecca Hejduk, to adolescence. Returning to employment, she
worked in office management for many years until returning to teaching for the last decade of
her working life. She retired in 2001, performing volunteer work in her retirement for literacy
and English proficiency advocacy, the Texas Master Naturalists, and at-risk teenagers, among
others.
Sandra had an unusual ability to connect with people, making both immediate and
sustained friends in almost any group. Her endless reserve of energy and unflappable good
humor also distinguished her; until the very week before her death she was exercising at the gym
five days per week and cooking a full dinner for her family every evening. She will long be
remembered for her loving, kind, gracious, friendly, humorous way of life and her contributions
to society and family.
Sandra is survived by her son and daughter-in-law Matthew and Julia Hejduk of Waco
(with whom she lived for the final four years of her life); by her son-in-law and daughter Aaron
and Rebecca (Hejduk) Morse of Los Angeles, CA; and by her grandchildren Natalie (Hejduk)
Hannan, Anthony Hejduk, Nathaniel Hejduk, and Leo Morse. Sandy was a faithful Episcopalian
and was a devoted parishioner of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Waco, TX, where a memorial
service will be held when pandemic conditions make such a service possible.