Sandra Joy Crane

Sandy Crane died peacefully at home Thursday, January 8, 2026, at age 82. With courage and grace, she faced and fought through serious health issues for the past five years. In October,
2025, she took a rapid turn for the worse and spent the last few months surrounded by the love and caring attention of family and friends.
Born Sandra Joy Gravelle, Sandy arrived 9/28/1943 in Petaluma, CA. Her father, in Kentucky soon to be shipped overseas for service in WWII, went AWOL to meet her. Following the war, younger brother Edward was added to the family in 1946. She also had two older half siblings, Shirley and Doug.
The family relocated to East Palo Alto, where Sandy attended local schools from K-12. After graduating from Ravenswood High School in 1961, she attended San Jose City College for two
years. She was fiercely proud of her East Palo Alto roots and shared a special bond with fellow classmates, who met up at reunions through the years. She also retained life-long friendships with her girl scout troop, who still currently get together.
She married Tom Crane in 1962 and soon added two daughters to the family. Relationships were important to Sandy—both familial and friend-based. Holidays and most vacations were spent with family or friends. A highlight in the early years of her daughters' lives was the multi-generational Gravelle clan gathering in Santa Cruz at Thanksgiving, which had begun even before Sandy's birth.
Sandy was known for being a fantastic cook and hostess, a master quilter, gardener and good friend to all. She had the ability to bloom wherever she was planted, and she quickly made each house a home, complete with garden, and open to old friends and new. She was the glue of our family.
While she worked many jobs, her favorite was being a paid teacher's aide at Castro Elementary School in the Mountain View Whisman School District. She regretted never getting a teaching credential, but found much fulfillment with this job.
One of Sandy's most cherished roles was being a grandmother. She enjoyed her grandkids through all stages, from taking them to Disney movies and Toys R Us on their birthdays to shopping in the mall for clothes and Starbucks in their teenage years, to celebrating their development as adults and being excited in their choices of college, jobs, and family. During the years Sandy and Tom lived in Auburn, CA, vacations there included near daily trips to various rivers and lakes, followed by nightly Tripoli tournaments. She got all grandkids into playing various card games, and through the years was always available for a hand or two of any game. Game nights with her will be missed.
Sandy is survived by her husband of 63 years, Tom, daughters Leslie (Cameron) and Lisa (Dave), nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. In memory of Sandy, please consider a donation to your local Project Linus group, an organization providing blankets for children and from which Sandy received a Lifetime Achievement Award: www.projectlinus.org. A celebration of Sandy will be in mid March.