Sandra Ann Engelbrecht   August 17, 1956 - March 16, 2024

 Sandra Ann Engelbrecht, 67, passed away on March 16, 2024 in Spanish Fork, Utah. She was born on August 17, 1956 to Barry and Pauline Layton in Big Spring, Texas. She also lived in Colorado, California, and Utah, but spent most of her life in California. She attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She was predeceased by her son Adam (in 2021) and her parents. She is survived by her children Byron, Amy (Ramin), Justin (Sandee), Barry (Charmaine) as well as John Engelbrecht and their 11 incredible grandchildren.

Sandra was a remarkable woman because of her resilience and her faith. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in her early 30s, but she did not let this define who she was. She clung to her belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ and her identity as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She loved sayings such as “You can endure anything if you know it is temporary” and “You can do hard things.”

She loved the gospel of Jesus Christ. Two of her favorite books were The Infinite Atonement and A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. She was also an excellent missionary and taught many about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was so easy to talk to her as she was a very good listener and genuinely interested in people’s stories. One of her doctors was caught off guard months before her passing because she had so many questions for him, about his family and career that he almost forgot he was the one that had questions for her. This was very typical of Sandra.  

She loved beauty and could rarely be found without her red lipstick and red nail polish. Known for being an elegant woman, she once received an award for being “Tall, Dark, and Absolutely Gorgeous”. And she was.

In her spare time when her children were grown, she loved to watch the BYU Channel and the History Channel, especially if it was featuring Princess Diana or the royal family. She had an amazing memory. She was a lover of trivia and would often text her children little trivia questions or remind them which National Day it was, especially if it was National Popcorn Day!

Sandra was an amazing cook. However, you could never ask her for a recipe because she didn’t know how to repeat what she had made. She would say, “Oh, I just threw together what I had in the fridge.” But it always tasted delicious! Her absolute favorite food in the world was lobster—dipped in drawn butter, of course. But she loved all seafood and one of her favorite things to do with her children was to take them out to lunch for Akio’s sushi or for T.O. Fish and Chips. Of course, there was usually a Marshalls trip involved as well, and maybe even a Thrifty’s ice cream cone. Sandra loved shopping and she loved good food!

Her creativity extended beyond her cooking. She truly was a homemaker. Her children’s friends would comment that their home looked as beautiful as a museum. She decorated her home with flowers and kept it amazingly clean. Her five children would say it was in large part because she knew how to rally the troops and get everyone organized with their chores. However, now that they have children of their own, they can see that she must have worked tirelessly herself.

She loved decorating for the holidays and especially looked forward to October 10^th, her own personal holiday. On this day she would pull out all her fall decorations. She often gave names and even cute personalities to decorations such as a scarecrow, a Halloween witch or little Christmas bears. She’d pretend that they were very upset about being stashed in the attic all year.

She also loved birds and little animals. One of her favorite stories to tell was about the time she and her son Adam watched from afar as baby finches hatched from their eggs. She loved to tell stories from her childhood about tending to her duck and guinea pig or looking for crawdads near her home.

Her sense of humor was a bit mischievous. She loved to play a little prank (or a big prank) and lie in wait to watch it unfold. Her tears of joy and uncontrollable laughter were fun to watch—as long as you were not the recipient of her harmless mischief.

Sandra was independent and enjoyed being alone, but she also loved fiercely and was always thinking about her family and loved ones.