Sandra Glee (Callaway) Waldo

Sandra Glee Callaway Waldo  October 6, 1938 – February 28, 2026

Sandra Glee Callaway Waldo, 87, passed away in the early hours of February 28, 2026, at home in Portales, New Mexico.  Present were her daughter and caregiver, Kristin Greta Waldo, and her son-in-law, Larry Allen Chandler, Jr. 

Born on October 6, 1938, in Holdridge, Nebraska, Sandra was the daughter of the late Merle Wesley Callaway (1916 - 1998) and Velma Blanche Peterson Callaway (1916 - 2000).  She grew up with a love of learning and music.  Graduating from Orleans High School in 1956, she attended Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska, and later transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to complete her Bachelor’s in Organ and Piano Performance in 1960.  She began graduate work at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Tulsa University (Tulsa, Oklahoma).

Sandra was a long-time resident of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where she raised her two children with her late husband, Richard Alan Waldo (1937 – 1993).  Sandra was an accomplished church organist and dedicated many years to teaching children and youth as a private piano teacher.  Due to ongoing struggles with rheumatoid arthritis, she changed careers in the early 1980s, working 36 years as a successful real estate broker. Her love for music never faltered.      

Sandra was very active in her community and beyond.  She was a co-founder of the Family Planning Clinic in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and advocated for the establishment of the Oklahoma Department of Health in Washington County.  She was a member of Chapter CH, P.E.O. Sisterhood, a sustaining member of the Service League of Bartlesville, the Women’s Network, and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  She also volunteered time with UNICEF and hospice. 

Sandra is survived by her partner, Kenneth Irwin Dewey, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; her son, Geoffrey Stuart Waldo and daughter-in-law, Tina LaCaz, of Santa Fe; and her daughter, Kristin Greta Waldo and son-in-law, Larry Allen Chandler, Jr., of Portales, New Mexico.  Also surviving her are her six grandchildren, all children of Kristin: Adelheid Elizabeth West and husband Adam West of Missoula, Montana; Haniel Joachim Goertz of Stillwater, Oklahoma; Tabitha Jeneke Holden and husband, Jordan Holden, of Parkesburg, Pennsylvania; Nadjeschda Johanna Goertz and partner, Irving S. Hernandez, of Irapuato, Mexico; Richard Sebastian Prenzlow and partner, Hayley Chaffin, of Stillwater, Oklahoma; and Judith Ariana Prenzlow and partner, Brendan Donovan of Bonfield, Illinois.  She is also survived by her two great-grandchildren, Ivory Linden West and Sylvan Alexander West of Missoula, Montana. 

She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Alan Waldo, her parents, her sister, Carolyn Callaway Noland, and her brother, James Callaway. 

“Sometimes in the face of reality, hope has to be abandoned, and then courage steps to the fore.  Have courage, always.  Courage is a steadfast companion”.  Sandra C. Waldo, February 2026.

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