December 3, 1925 – June 14, 2003

Born Helen B. Tecklin (she didn’t like her middle name, so I’ll spare her ghost the embarrassment!) was born in Brooklyn, NY, the only child of Carolyn and Max Tecklin. She gained the nickname, Sandy, for the light, breezy tinge to her hair, most likely acquired from many hours on the beach and in the water at the family’s summer home on Long Island.

Following a comfortable, upper-middle class upbringing, she escaped from the overbearing shadow of her mother to Duke University in North Carolina. After graduating in 1945, she returned to New York and worked for Time magazine.  After a while she sought freedom once again, heading to Colorado to ski.  To her chagrin, her parents followed her and took up residence in Denver.  Taking classes at CU in Boulder to earn a teaching certificate, Sandy met a garrulous veteran named Perry.  They were married on November 12, 1949 in Raton, NM on the way home from a CU football game.

Sandy was a loving mother, but not meant to be a housewife. She worked outside the home for most of her children’s lives, including 30 years at United Airlines.  The justification for all those years at United, was to travel.  She, Perry and the children used her passes to fly all over the United States, and to many destinations overseas.  In fact, though she loved having her children around, she encouraged them to travel everywhere and anywhere.  She was thrilled when Dan became an over-the-road truck driver, even installing an ‘800’ telephone number so he could call from all corners of the country and share his experiences.

Sandy’s passion was art. At Duke, she started painting, mainly in oils and water color.  She took classes both at college and by correspondence to hone her craft.  Drawing and sketching also brought her great satisfaction.  In a classic case of mutual accomplishment, Sandy imaginatively sketched all the maps in Perry’s books.  Aside from a scattering of local showings, she never sold her paintings, so we’d love to show off her artwork on the pages of this website.