Sandra Kay Tanner, age 81, a former resident of Greenville at 419 East Harmon Dr., was called by our Lord October 23, 2021 during her work at Tanner Romania Mission in Nicoresti, Romania. She lived in Greenville from 1986 through 1991 with her husband Bruce Tanner who managed the Super-X Drug Store (later known as CVS). Their children, Aaron Tanner of Sidney, Ohio and Shannon Helton of Tipp City both survive. Sandra worked at Gade Nursing Home and as secretary at First United Church of Christ (later know as Gospel Baptist Church). She was an active member of the First United Church of Christ.
Once a declared atheist, she had accepted Christ in 1977 and later committed her life to serving God. She was anointed as a commissioned Christian worker in 1991 by Rev. Donald Myers. She volunteered at a Romanian orphanage and with her husband later legally registered the mission both in Ohio and Romania. In 1993, they established the first of several homes in which they accepted abandoned, handicapped children, 20 of whom are still in the care of the mission. Sandra (known to friends as Sandie) was born in Rockford, Illinois August 24, 1940 to Dorothy Harris and Herb Boetcher. She was known throughout her school days as Sandra Celebron. She had been married twice previously and is survived by sons Arlin and Jeffrey Davidson of Strum, Wisconsin. A son Michael Davidson had been tragically killed in September 1992 in Wisconsin. Also surviving are five granddaughters, four great grandsons and five great granddaughters in Ohio and Wisconsin. Sandie was known and loved for her volatile temperament, a gift of gab and giving spirit. She marched for civil rights causes in the early sixties. She loved to dance, play bridge, study the Bible and travel. At various times in Illinois, Wisconsin, Alabama and Ohio Sandie worked as a waitress, go-go dancer, bookkeeper, production analyst, cosmetician, executive assistant, nursing home activities director and church secretary. In Romania from 1991 to the present, she has been the mission’s economic director. Her wide range of experiences shaped her into the person who was able to plow through bureaucracy in order to create and maintain an organization that would touch scores of souls who had been left hopelessly institutionalized. Then, through a network of friends, volunteers, churches and employees from 10 countries, Sandie coordinated the resources to maintain that organization into the future. She will forever be known as “Mama Sandie”. For the past year, Sandie had suffered declining health but her strength of spirit was unwavering to the end. The current and former residents at the mission, some of whom are in the 40’s now, will always miss her. Their praises for her life far exceed their sorrow for her death. Sandie was interred October 25, 2021 at the local Paraschiva Orthodox churchyard in Nicoresti, Romania, grieved by 74 mourners on hand and countless the world over.
Local funeral arrangements by Zechar Bailey Funeral Home Greenville, Ohio.