Sandra Mae Hewitt Bell

Sandra Mae Hewitt Bell died peacefully at home in her sleep at 10:45 am on June 25, 2025 surrounded by her family.

Sandra was born October 27, 1953 at Lund Family Services in Burlington, VT to Marian Devine of Albany, New York. In August 1954 Sandra was adopted by her loving parents, Merritt and Shirley Hewitt of Double TT dairy farm in North Bennington, VT. She loved her childhood on the farm and spoke often and fondly of getting up in the early hours of the morning to join her father on his milk delivery rounds, ending up with coffee and a donut at a local diner. This love for farming would stand her well in her future career in sales and marketing at her husbands namesake winery, Bell Wine Cellars, in Yountville, CA.

Sandra attended Mount Anthony Union High School where she played clarinet and bassoon in the band, played tennis and field hockey, was actively involved in the theatre arts program and served as student body President.

Upon graduation in June 1971 Sandra attend the University of Vermont in Burlington, where she graduated in 1973 with her Associates Degree in Nuclear Medicine. She subsequently moved to Minneapolis where she worked as an xray technician at Hennepin County General Hospital before transferring to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where her creative talents blossomed.

She returned to VT and for the next two years worked as a Dental Assistant in Bennington and as Activities Assistant at the Bennington Convalescent Home before entering Castleton State College to obtain her teaching credential. Shortly before graduating she met her first husband, Walter "Buzz" Cmaylo, in the Spring of 1976. Following six months of student practice teaching, Sandra entered the Experiment in International Living school, based in Putney, VT which led to a six month study abroad in Greece. Upon her return in late 1998 she joined Buzz in Chicago where she held various sales positions until she joined him as one of the initial positions at Micros POS Retail Systems. Their careers at Micros were very successful and they subsequently moved to Annapolis, MD, and later Hoboken, NJ to establish sales o ces.

Her daughter Talia was born in Annapolis, MD in April 1985 and her daughter Anna in Teaneck, NJ in November, 1986. She raised her girls with unwavering love and support, often putting their needs before her own.

Following her divorce, in 1991 Sandra and her daughters moved to San Francisco where she worked at San Francisco Cash Register before joining a startup dot.com company and later for Vivande Ristorante in San Francisco.

She met her husband Anthony Bell in the summer of 1994 and began an amazing 31 year love affair. In 1998 she joined Anthony at his winery in Napa Valley where she developed the retail and visitor operations, and later assumed responsibility for the sales and marketing of the winery.

Sandra was a talented cook and the couple loved entertaining, both at the winery and at home. Food, wine, entertaining, travel and boating remained a large part of her life and brought her great enjoyment. In 2018 she and Anthony retired from the winery and embarked on their dream to travel domestically and internationally. Florida became their new home and winter base from which they could launch their summer RV travels.

In December 2021 Sandra was diagnosed with a unique form of Glioblastoma. Initially given a very dire prognosis, she was fortunate to be admitted into the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Cancer Center at Duke University where she had access to some of the best minds in her field.

Her loving and caring team, led by Dr Justin Low, were able to add almost four additional travel filled years to her life; adding to her life memories. Sandra entered hospice in June 2025 almost four miraculous years after her initial surgery.

She is survived by her husband and partner of 31 years, Anthony, her two daughters, Talia Cmaylo and Anna Cmaylo-Acton, her granddaughter, Isla Mae Acton; her siblings Malcolm Hewitt, Brian Hewitt and Karen Hewitt, and her cousin Robin Bracknell. She was predeceased by her sibling Joyce. Discovering the identity of her birth mother in 2017 was one of the highlights of her life and her relationship with her new found family brought much happiness to her. From her birth mothers family, she is survived by cousins Nancy Devine Adams, Maureen Devine, Mary Devine Mulchy (deceased), Greg Devine, Jim Devine, Dan Devine and Richard Devine.

In lieu of flowers please make a donation to either Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota or to the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Center at Duke University, Durham, NC.