Sandra Louise Lehner was born June 13, 1959 to Arthur Dale and Delma Louise Warner in
Missoula, Montana. She passed from this life into the next on May 5, 2023 in
Billings, Montana.
She was the oldest of three daughters born to Art and Louise Warner. They grew up in Montana in Missoula, Glendive, Sheridan and Billings. They enjoyed hiking, camping, skiing, snowmobiling and sledding as a family.
The family was very involved in church, and the girls sang in the choir. The choir director was amazed by Sandy's voice, believing her to have perfect pitch. In first grade Sandy sang her first solo, and the congregation looked around, trying to figure out who she was. They realized she was a Warner girl when they saw how her father was beaming.
Sandy graduated with honors from Billings West High School and attended Eastern Montana College, where she graduated with honors, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education.
She married Allen Armstrong in 1982, and they had two sons, Kevin and Paul. They lived in Butte, Alabama, Colorado and Billings. They divorced in 1992. Sandy married Randy Lehner in 2004, and they were married 4 years.
Sandy worked in several daycares and preschools in Colorado, and earned her associate degree in accounting and worked at Super Value.
She was a strong Christian, and served as a Sunday School teacher in several churches she attended through her life, most recently First United Methodist Church of Billings. She had a beautiful voice and sang often in church, known for her emotive songs.
Sandy was an avid fan of theater, and loved to entertain people. She spent much of her free time acting in plays and musicals both in her church and at community theaters. She wrote several original scripts, and directed children in several productions. She was a favorite of the children in church in her continuing role as the "weird angel".
Sandy was in a single car accident in 2004, in which she broke her neck and was paralyzed. She lived most of the rest of her life in Avantara skilled medical facility, roaming the halls in her motorized wheelchair with a ready smile and teasing personality. She was a friend to many, and inspirational in her faith and scripture knowledge. She wrote several more poems and skits which were performed in the nursing home, held a Bible study and read books aloud to other residents for 10 years before Covid. She was elected president of the residents' association at the home.
Sandy was preceded in death by her father, Art Warner. Loved ones she leaves behind include her mother, Louise Warner; her son Kevin Armstrong, his wife Loretta and their children Carson, Jayna and Yvonne; her son Paul Armstrong, his wife Lauren and their daughter Ashlyn; her sister Deborah Warner, her husband Mike Todd of
Anchorage, Alaska and their children Michael, Tamara, Matthew, Jonathan, Amanda, William, Julia, Gregory, Melissa and Deborah; and her sister Cynthia Gentry and her husband Jeff of Portales, New Mexico and their children Gretchen, Daniel and David Winter and Kyra Gentry
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