Sandra Burkart

Sandra Mary Priestley Burkart (Sandy)

It is with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved Sandra Mary Priestley Burkart (Sandy) went home to be with her Lord and Savior on March 14 at the age of 54 after fiercely battling breast cancer since 2015.

Sandy was born on September 29, 1968, to Robert and Dorothy Priestley at US Army Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany. She grew up in Stoneham, MA, and Malta, NY. Sandy married her husband of 22 years, Scott Burkart, in Potomac Falls, VA, and raised their two daughters, Alyssa Marie, 19, and Sarah Rebekah, 16, in Strasburg, VA.

She graduated from Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady, NY, and Paul Smiths College in Saranac Lake, NY. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. After her marriage, she started her own company, Business and Bookkeeping Services, LLC, and grew the company over the years. She made close friends of many clients, one of whom said Sandy made the horrific work of sales taxes bearable and fun.

After graduating from college in South Carolina, Sandy answered a newspaper notice requesting help at a church Thanksgiving dinner for the needy. There, at Landrum Baptist Church, a woman shared the gospel with her, and Sandy understood, for the first time, God's love and Jesus' payment for her sins. Sandy continued to pursue the truth from God's Word, Bible studies, and church. She knew the love of God and, in turn, loved others. She shared Christ with others because she wanted them to experience His love, the peace that comes from knowing Him, and the hope that one day they would pass from this life into eternity. When Sandy left the loving arms of her family on earth she entered the waiting arms of Jesus in heaven where pain and suffering can never touch her again.

When diagnosed with cancer, Sandy started a Bible study with fellow cancer patients which reached people all over the world. She gave her mother-in-law a DNA kit, which lead to the most valuable gift she could ever receive - reunification with her birth family after 65 years of searching. She created a cancer Facebook page and blog where she shared information and uplifting messages and posts. She laughed at her hair loss and posted photos of herself bald and wearing colored wigs. Sandy was strong, energetic, and hardworking but took time off for fun with her cherished husband and daughters. She enjoyed jogging, hiking, camping, and especially time with her family.

Sandy's vivacious personality, positivity, and loving nature will be missed by family and the countless friends and acquaintances around the world whose lives she touched, some of whom never met her. Besides her husband, daughters, and parents of Pocasset, MA, Sandy leaves her brother, Robert F. Priestley, also of Strasburg, VA, her grandmother, Lorna B. Priestley of Peabody, MA, her parents-in-law, Harold and Iris Burkart of The Villages, Florida, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and Burkart in-laws.

A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, April 1, beginning with visitation at 9:30 am and services at 11:00 am at Fellowship Bible Church, 3217 Middle Road, Winchester, VA. A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Believe Big (www.believebig.org), an organization that bridges conventional and complementary medicine for fighting cancer. To donate by mail: 11350 McCormick Road, Executive Plaza I, Suite 100, Hunt Valley, Maryland 21031.