SANDRA JEANNE SPENCER JIVIDEN

SANDRA JEANNE SPENCER JIVIDEN, 77, passed away peacefully at home on July 4, 2015, after a five-year bout with illness. Born in Huntington, daughter of H. Edward and Mary Louise Geary Spencer, Sandy grew up with siblings James E. (Donna), Geary (deceased) (Cathy), Patricia Louise Justice (John), and Catherine Spencer Dickstein (Donald). In youth, she served as leader of the Presbyterian Synod Youth Council and earned the Girl Scout equivalent of Eagle Scout. She graduated from Marshall University, Cum Laude in three years. She was also a graduate of the Presbyterian School of Christian Education and the Center for the Studies of Human Systems. She taught school in Henrico County, Va., and in Ripley, W.Va. As a Christian Educator, she served churches in Maryland and Northern Va. Her work also included Assistant and then Associate for Nurture for the National Capital Presbytery in Washington, DC, and teaching Christian Human Sexuality in the greater DC area. Moving to Western North Carolina, Sandy served for 11 years as Director of Programming at Montreat Conference Center and ended her professional career as Associate for Calls and Covenants of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina. She has been active in the Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville, N.C., its mission work and its music in choir. Sandy was preceded in death by her daughter, Michelle Diane, and a foster daughter, Regina L. Britton. She is survived by her husband of almost 55 years, Cecil; daughter, Leslie Jividen Luxenberg (Glenn); beloved grandson, Kai Benjamin Luxenberg; two aunts, Helen Higgins Fulp of Kernersville, N.C., and Annabelle Geary Copper of Charleston, W.Va.; and by sister-in-law Yvonne Jividen Young (Don) of Newport News, Va. Sandy felt blessed by and grateful for her wonderful nieces and nephews. It was mutual. Her professional colleagues valued her for her gentle and effective leadership. Sandy's great passions were her family, Christian Education and helping others. She valued people more than achievements. Her memorial service will be at 2 p.m. July 18 at the Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, 789 Merrimon Avenue in Asheville, N.C. 28804. Memorials may be given to the Michelle Jividen Grant fund at the Louisa Education Foundation, P.O. Box 130, Mineral, Va. 23117; Black Mtn. Swannanoa Valley Endowment Fund (BMSVEF), 103 Richardson Blvd., Black Mtn, N.C. 28711; or the Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church (Missions and Music). Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.penlandfamilyfuneralhome.com.