Sandra Hazel Frey was born in Albury on 18th December 1958, to Walter Frey, a builder who had emigrated to Tasmania from Germany in 1951, and his wife Erika who had followed him over two years later. Walter and Erika had come to Albury from Tasmania in 1955 so Walter could help rebuild Tallangatta when the height of the Hume Weir was increased. Sandy was the second of three children, her sister Margaret being 13 months older and Michael 4 years her junior. Sandy always seemed to have a broken arm, burns on her fingers or bruises; partly because of her gregarious nature and partly due to day-dreaming. One day, walking home from school she was off with the fairies and walked smack into a tree causing a few cuts and bruises!! The family was very close with lots of happy times and outings. Some of Sandy’s fondest memories of her childhood were .. • Water-skiing on the Hume Weir in Summer with a crowd of friends. • Walks in the hills, usually with one or more of the Bottrell’s in tow. • Excursions to Mt Buffalo and elsewhere with Stark’s. • BBQ’s at the Stark’s with numerous different meats and up to nine different salads. • Caravan trips to Queensland, Narooma and Tasmania among others. • Drives in the country with the inevitable ice cream somewhere along the way (Walter her father had a strong sweet tooth). Sandy commenced a Receptionist course at Albury TAFE. This is where she met her lifelong friend Bernadette McDonald (now Bellchambers). Bern still wonders how they ever managed to learn anything because they were always laughing so much. Sandy must have learnt something in between the giggles because she topped the class. Sandy commenced work at Murray River Country Council. This was a fun time for Sandy and all of us; especially our extra long lunches after the quarterly billing cycle had been completed. Sandy worked on the cashier’s desk and there was a particularly memorable customer who decided she would exact revenge on the MRCC by paying her bill in weekly instalments of $7, all in one and two cent pieces. This very quickly stopped as Sandy came up with a number of ways of playing the same game …. • She would get part way through counting the money and pretend to lose count so she would have to start again. • If another customer came in while Sandy was counting the money she would push the pile of coins aside, serve the next customer before recommencing the count at the beginning. • If the phone rang … you guessed it, Sandy would once again stop counting to answer the phone and then of course have to start again. It was hilarious and the troublesome customer soon decided it was not worth the agony each week. Around this time, Sandy decided it was time to move out of home and rented a house. Things really heated up in Sandy’s social life when she decided to take up skydiving!! On her second jump she fractured a number of bones in one of her feet (no surprises there) which made her stop for a while before continuing to make 11 jumps in all. Here she made some more lifelong friends with a crazy gang led by Tony Edwards. It was not unusual to be at a party in David St with people jumping off the roof, practicing their landing techniques and rolls, or having competitions, also known as ‘butt butt’, to see which one could run toward the fence and head butt it the hardest. (Tarryn: Yes, my mum was a wild one!!!! maybe thats where i get it from hehehe) On 25th November 1986, Sandy and Mick’s pride and joy, Tarryn Margaret Jefcoate, was born at Campbelltown Hospital. Despite having no hair, she was a cute baby and brought lots of joy to everyone. Tarryn was so small that Sandy sometimes dressed her up in cabbage patch doll clothes. after moving back to albury from living in sydney, Sandy commenced work at the NRMA where she remained for a number of years before resigning to spend more time with Tarryn. Over the years, she had a number of part-time jobs, including 11 years at the Albury Laundromat. On 4th May 2000, Sandy’s father Walter passed away. This hit Sandy very hard as he was very close to and dearly loved by all of his children. Over the last few years Sandy suffered bad health, in particular chronic pancreatitis which was extremely painful and meant she often had to return to hospital. She also badly broke her leg in a fall. Despite this, in 2005, she decided to undertake forklift driver training. Of course, she was the only female in the class and copped lots of flack from the guys. This naturally only made her more determined to succeed and she topped the class with a score of 100% for her written and practical exam. We were all so proud of her. Sandy and Tarryn lived in the house in Benn Cres with their three dogs Pippi, Bella and of course Lilly, her little angel, until her death and made lots of good friends there who were of great help and comfort to her. Her closest friends were Nicky and Ian Bennett whose 3 gorgeous kids adored Sandy, and Anne and Keith Appleton from next door. Sandy’s last social outing was a family BBQ on Easter Monday at her brother Michael’s new house in Wirlinga. The whole family was there together with our beloved Uncle George and Aunty Betty Stark. It was a lovely peaceful day and will leave us all with fond memories of our last get together with Sandy. Sandy’s last trip to hospital was on Sunday 15th April, accompanied in the ambulance by her sister Margaret. She was moved to the Critical Care Unit on Monday afternoon where the staff, in particular nurse John, did everything they could to keep her with us before she slipped away at approximately 12:30 that night with Tarryn and other family members by her side. What Sandy loved … She loved her parents and visited or phoned her mother almost daily. She loved her nieces, Alicia and Kiera, and always gave them lollies when they came to visit. She loved to help others when she could. In the last weeks, she knitted jumpers for Aids babies in Africa and enlisted a number of her friends to assist in this endeavour. Despite the comments about spaghetti jaffles and brains, she loved to cook. Sandy was very accomplished in the kitchen and was famous for her berry chocolate meringue. She loved to shop. She loved to collect anything to do with pigs … miniatures, calendars, photos etc. But most of all she loved her daughter Tarryn. The two of them were inseparable and had lots of fun together – Tarryn often described her Mum as the crazy lady from the Vita-Weats ad. - excerpt from eulogy Sandy is now at peace, free of all pain, and in a better place with her beloved father Walter, her dear friends Fronny and Andrea, and her brother-in-law Watto.