Sandra Carol Taylor

1936 - 2014

BORN

1936

DIED

2014

About

Stanford University University of Utah

Sandra Taylor Obituary

Sandra Carol Taylor
7/31/36 ~ 5/31/14
Sandra Carol Taylor was born in Sacramento California to Ruel J Taylor and Carol Clark Taylor. She Graduated from Stanford University, BA 1958 and the University of Colorado, MA 1962, PhD 1966.
From 1966 to 2001, she was a professor in the history department at the University of Utah and was the author of many articles and several books. One year she served as president of the faculty senate. Her main areas of interest were American diplomatic history and the history of the Viet Nam war.
Sandra loved to travel. She spent a summer in India and trekked the tribal lands of Pakistan. She lived a year in Hawaii and made six trips, each a month long, to Viet Nam doing research for one of her books. She has been north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle, all around the Pacific Rim and all over Europe. Her last teaching assignment before retirement was as a Fulbright Professor for four months in Moscow teaching the history of the Cold War.
Hiking, skiing, backpacking and scuba diving were all favorite outdoor activities as were reading, cooking and gardening at home. Sandra lived most of her life in Salt Lake City. In 2001 she retired and moved to a home near Teasdale, Utah.
In September, 2011, Sandra was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS. In Spring, 2014, the MDS progressed to acute myeloid leukemia. The condition was painless and Sandra enjoyed life upto the last several weeks. She passed away peacefully in Salt Lake City.
Sandra is survived by her brother, Clark Taylor, and her husband of 33 years, Russell Wilhelmsen.
Memorials for Sandra will be held in Teasdale and in Salt Lake at future dates.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Salt Lake Tribune from Jun. 7 to Jun. 8, 2014.

Memories and Condolences
for Sandra Taylor

12 Entries

Kim Dopp

March 24, 2022

I was watching a new documentary about the peace movement in the military in the sixties. It referred to a paper of which Dr. Taylor could have been the author-so much so I thought to look her up to send her a copy. I, instead, found this page.
Dr. Taylor was a profound influence and the first in academia to recognize my passion for history and first to encourage me back in 1985. I think about her all the time, but never did find her to tell her this, to thank her and for much, much more.
To her, perhaps I was just one of hundreds passing through the U, but to me, she gave me the confidence to build, not just my academic life, but an identity of worth.
I need to thank, Dr. Taylor for all of this. She will always be remembered.

Karol Kumpfer

June 1, 2019

Missing Sandra today. Still involved with her husband, Russell, who has been having major health problems with a bleeding ulcer and almost died in the past month. My husband and I helped him to find a new partner, Jacquie, who has been a great travel companion for him and helped him with his medical care.

Shirley Hughes

January 17, 2016

Just wanted to say thanks to this wonderful woman who's writing and teachings will last for eternity.

June 12, 2014

Sandra is severely missed at a reading group. I wish I had known her more, but feel fortunate to have gotten acquainted even for a few years. Russell: we need your presence. Thank you Sandra, for being such a special person. Nena Flo Law

June 10, 2014

Sandra was indeed a remarkable person. I feel fortunate to have known her.

Martha Stockham

Henry Whiteside

June 9, 2014

A good friend, a generous host, a great cook, a tireless traveler, a voracious reader, a good trail companion, and a "slogger" - she did not give up or give out. Fare you well, Sandra

Isabel Moreira

June 8, 2014

This is such a sad loss. I first met Sandra in 1992 as a colleague in the History department at the U, at a time when she was an active and forceful member of the university community. It was around that time that she served as president of the academic senate - at a very interesting time in the university's history. But mostly I remember her being deeply engaged in researching and writing her book on Topaz and I remember having many conversations with her about it. It was a subject that she cared about and that engaged her deeply. Although I hadn't seen her for a number of years until very recently, I have fond memories of gatherings at Sandra's and Russell's home in Salt Lake. You are greatly missed, Sandra!

June 7, 2014

I first met Sandra in about 1976 through the Wasatch Mountain Club of Salt Lake City. We immediately became close friends, sharing a love of hiking, backpacking, camping, skiing, gardening, parties, and cats. Some of my dearest memories are of sitting with Sandra on a granite boulder above a pristine mountain lake in Wyoming's Wind River Mountains, engaged in conversations on a vast variety of topics. We cooked dinner in the Wind Rivers, breakfast in the Escalante Canyons, and shared parties around the swimming pool at her home in Salt Lake City. She was stimulated by intellectual challenge and pushed herself constantly to experience what life had to offer her. Above all, she was a lady. Sandra, I will miss you a great deal.

Katy White, Midway, Utah

June 7, 2014

I met Sandra in about 1976 through the Wasatch Mountain Club of Salt Lake City. We immediately became close friends, sharing a love of skiing, camping, backpacking, gardening, parties, and cats. Some of my most treasured memories are of sitting with Sandra on a granite boulder above a pristine lake in Wyoming's Wind River Mountains, engaged in conversations on every possible subject. We shared dinners in the Wind Rivers, breakfasts in the Escalante Canyons, and parties around the swimming pool at her home in Salt Lake City. She was stimulating, a renaissance woman with interests in many fields. She constantly pushed herself to learn and experience new things. Above all, she was a lady. Sandra, I will miss you deeply.

Katy White, Midway, Utah

geoff smith

June 7, 2014

A wonderful person and historian. Pioneer as a woman in the field of the history U.S. foreign relations. A good friend.

Sandra and Karol at Cape Horn

Karol Kumpfer

June 5, 2014

Sandra lived life to the fullest. She was my closest girlfriend at the University of Utah. We met when I was elected to be head of the UU Faculty Women's Club in 1972 and she was the past president. As single faculty women in a man's world, we did hang out together and met our husbands and married about the same time. We have been close friends ever since. She and her husband Russell live at our house when they are in SLC from Teasdale—about 5 days a month.
What I will miss most is her friendship, keen intellect, excellent conversation, and also her Chinese dinner parties—the Tea Smoked Duck. We both enjoyed sports cars, the outdoors (skiing, rafting, hiking, and backpacking), Shakespeare Festival for our mutual Leo-Ladies Birthday Reunions, and traveling. Here is a picture that she and I took at Cape Horn on a cruise in 2008 from Santiago to Buenos Aries. We decided to take our husbands back the next year on an interior Patagonia tour down the spine of the Andes. It was fun, but also funny when our tour bus got lost the first day on the dirt roads. Russell saved the day with his GPS.
She is going to be missed by all of her close friends.