Sandra J. Andreini

Sandra “Sandy” J. Andreini, age 59, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at home. She was born on March 7, 1963, to Terry and Barbara (Marks) Chappell in Detroit, MI. She was united in marriage on June 20, 1987, in Ann Arbor, MI to Jeffrey Andreini.

A few of Sandy’s favorite things:

First and for most being a mom. She put her girls above everything. It was for their wellbeing, that she got her strength and fortitude to fight the battle for her life against cancer. All throughout her life she loved to go on morning runs. She always said, “if the temperature is 0 or above, I’ll be running”. Even when she got diagnosed with cancer, she would run to her radiation therapy appointments instead of driving. Sandy was always very active. She enjoyed family snow ski trips to Indianhead and Steamboat Colorado, waterskiing every weekend at our cottage or lake home, and taking many family walks.

Sandy loved to spend time with her husband and daughters. Sandy and Jeff enjoyed date nights by attending Wisconsin Herd games. Sandy selected their seats to be in the front aisle row where she could easily interact with people as they walked by. She also loved her evening family sunset pontoon rides. She would always want to stop and visit her friends on the lake and offer them to ride with us. Despite having great lake views, Sandy most enjoyed sitting in the garage entrance so she could talk with and wave to the neighbors as they came and went. When Sandy was first diagnosed, her biggest fear was not being able to meet her grand babies. When Colt and Elda came along, Sandy couldn’t get enough. She loved her babies so much that not surprisingly she was very overprotective.

Professionally, Sandy worked as a registered nurse. Her first job was at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is where she met her husband Jeff, whom at that time was a medical student. Together they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she worked at the University of Minnesota Hospital in the bone marrow transplant unit, as well as the medical intensive care unit. While in Minnesota, they married. After the birth of their first child, Cassie, she took a job in the department of gastroenterology esophageal research lab. In 1993, they moved to Oshkosh Wisconsin. Once here she started up an esophageal testing lab at Mercy Medical Center, and later, at Theda Clark Medical Center. Busy with children, she then became a full-time mom. She was a stereotypical, but a much more intense version, of a soccer mom and swim mom. She later worked briefly as a registered nurse at Evergreen retirement community. She worked there until the time of her breast cancer diagnosis in 2013. Throughout her nursing career she was a compassionate caregiver and a strong patient advocate.

Now, Sandy, being the patient herself, was faced with lifelong treatment of her cancer or it’s complications. Having to receive infusions at least every 3 weeks for the rest of her life, her friends united together and became her “chemo group”. At each infusion, they would all sit with Sandy during her several hour treatments.

In 2016, Sandy was asked to share her story at Mercy Health Foundation’s first Faces of Courage event. As a result of the funds generated from this event and several other public engagements, Mercy Health Foundation was able to fully fund the development of the Oasis Boutique.

Sandy is lovingly survived by her husband, Dr. Jeffrey Andreini; daughters: Cassie (Shane) Anderson, Ally Andreini, Mandi (Connor) Arneson, Dri Andreini; grandchildren: Colt and Elda Anderson; mother, Barbara Chappell; brothers: James (JP Palmer) Chappell, Tom (Michelle) Chappell; numerous in-laws, cousins, nieces, nephews and dear friends; and her dear K-9 companion, Moo. She was preceded in death by her father, Terry Chappell; father and mother-in-law, Walter and Elda Andreini; and sister-in-law, Susan Agnew.

The family would like to thank the Mercy Medical Center doctors and nurses (too numerous to mention), as well as the nursing assistants and custodial staff who all contributed to the excellent and compassionate care she received. They also expressed thanks to the priests and clergy of Saint Raphael parish who provided religious and emotional comfort to her over the years meeting with Sandy and her family many times both at church and in hospital. In addition, they would like to thank the developers of the Caringbridge app, who allowed her to keep her 834 followers (70,000 visits) updated with her progress during her journey. You can view her journal at caringbridge.com – Sandy Andreini

Donations: All monies received will be donated to the Town of Algoma Fire Dept. If sending checks, please make it out to them. Sandy always looked forward to their pancake breakfast.

A Mass of Christian Burial for Sandy will take place at 11:00 am on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, at St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church, 830 S Westhaven Drive, Oshkosh, WI 54904 with Fr. Tom Long. Visitation will take place at the church on Wednesday from 9:00 am until the time of service.