Sandra Hemphill

Sandra Jane Hemphill, age 65, of Jefferson City, Mo., passed away Wednesday, May 31, 2023, at SSM St. Mary's Hospital in Jefferson City.
She was born on August 2, 1957, in Marceline, Mo., a daughter of Stanley Varvel and Dixie Lee (Bowyer) Brown. While attending college, she met Gary Wayne Hemphill and they were later united in marriage on November 11, 1980, in Brookfield, Mo.
Sandra was a 1975 graduate of Brookfield High School where she was proud to be a part of the Rainbow Girls. She went on to earn her BA with a double major in Speech-Language Pathology and Psychology from University Missouri Kansas City. Then obtained her masters in Speech and Language Pathology from Truman State University, formally Northeast Missouri State University.
Sandra and Gary moved to Jefferson City, and she began her career with both Still and Memorial Hospitals, working to rehabilitate patients who had suffered strokes or undergone procedures affecting speech, such as laryngectomies. She answered her call to work with children when she accepted a position with the Special Learning Center in 1986. She worked for the Jefferson City Public Schools from 1987 until 2014, then returned to the Special Learning Center where she was currently employed. Speech pathology was more than a job to Sandra. She was committed to her patients and students and developed meaningful relationships through her devotion to empowering them. She approached her position with purpose and remained prayerful in her pursuit to give each patient and student the gift of communication.
Sandra was a well-loved member of First Baptist Church and was known for her welcoming heart, warm demeanor and willingness to minister to those in need. She truly embodied the traits of a Proverbs 31 woman and practiced daily to produce the fruits of the spirit and demonstrated these attributes of Christ in the way she lived her life and loved people.
Sandra was beautifully creative and crafted countless quilts, flannel blankets, crocheted baby blankets, holiday decorations and ornaments for family and friends. She expressed love in creating and doing for others. Her greatest joy in life was her family and she was a dedicated wife and an ever-present and supportive mother. Sandra will be remembered as a patient, gracious, and giving woman who genuinely left every part of the world she touched better than she found it.
Survivors include: her loving husband of nearly 43 years, Gary Hemphill; two daughters, Ashley Hemphill and Alexandra "Alexa" Hemphill, both of St. Louis, Mo.; one sister, Sheree Starrett (David) of Overland Park, Ks.; one niece, Emily Smith (Cameron) and their children, Walker and Caroline, all of Overland Park, Ks; cousin, Dixie Jean Pecsi; mother-in-law, Norma Brauckseiker; brother-in-law, Kenneth Hemphill (Vickie).
She was preceded in death by her parents; father-in-law, Billy Hemphill; and step father-in-law, William Brauckseiker.
Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Monday, June 5, 2023, at First Baptist Church in Jefferson City, Mo.
A memorial service will begin at 12:00 p.m. Monday June 5, 2023, at First Baptist Church with the Reverend Melissa Hatfield officiating. Sandra will be laid to rest at Parklawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Brookfield, Mo.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the Special Learning Center or the First Baptist Church Missions.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Freeman Mortuary.