Sandra "Sandi" Williams Allen

Over and over, her loved ones say the same thing: her beautiful smile.

Sandra “Sandi” Williams Allen was born on May 16, 1956, in Washington, D.C. She was the first fraternal twin—and she’d never let her sister forget it—born to parents Keston Keith Williams, Sr. and Evelyn Ellsworth Williams. Sandi and her twin sister Sharon were the youngest of five children, following older brothers Keston, Eddie, and Richard.

Sandi grew up just outside the nation’s capital, where she recalled driving through the Kenwood neighborhood in the spring when the Kwanzan cherry trees were in bloom. “To me, it felt like we were driving through a magical tunnel of pink,” she said of her favorite childhood memory.

Beautiful and magnetic, Sandi was named sophomore homecoming princess alongside her twin sister Sharon—a rare exception to the tradition of selecting just one student per grade. Later, while attending Pitt Tech Institute (now Pitt Community College), she was a 1976 finalist for Miss Pitt Tech. She graduated at the top of her class in 1977 with an Associate in Applied Science in Secretarial Science and was inducted into the Gamma Beta Phi Society for outstanding scholastic achievement and worthy character.

After graduating, Sandi began working as an administrative assistant at Burroughs Wellcome pharmaceutical company, where she met Richard “Craig” Allen, her husband of nearly forty-five years. Their life together began in Greenville, North Carolina, before moving briefly to Seminole, Florida, and eventually settling in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Craig remembers that from the very beginning, there was no mistaking the pull between them. “We captured each other’s attention right off the bat,” he says—laughing together, playing tennis at his apartment complex, and dancing late into the night. What began as joy and heart-pounding momentum grew into a deep and lasting bond—shaped by family, compromise, and a life they chose to build together.

Sandi’s favorite job, by far, was being a stay-at-home mom to her three children, Stephanie, Chris, and David. Later, she was blessed even further by becoming “Oma” to seven beautiful grandchildren: Fiona, Rose, Will, Jamie, Jesse, Zoey, and Layla. She loved meeting them at their level, really playing—making art, laughing, and always reminding them how deeply they were loved.

Sandi’s spark came from within—a vibrant, spirited soul that seemed to know no limits when it came to connection. She could talk for hours about anything and everything… to seemingly anyone. Her friends, many of whom knew her for forty or fifty years (or more), often say the same thing: you could talk to Sandi about anything without fear of judgment. She couldn’t resist a spirited discussion and always held an opinion, yet her bonds remained unbreakable and rare.

When you picture Sandi, you can picture this:

Hands deep in the garden soil, bare feet on the grass—at home among her beloved flowers and plants. Tending, too, to the butterflies, the bees… even the squirrels, who were given their own feeder alongside the birds. Starlings rescued from the flue. A cat curled up, purring, in her lap.

Picture her crystals and suncatchers throwing the light from the windowpane. Charcoal and pencils around the kitchen table in the mornings when her children were young, teaching them to draw. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of her children, then grandchildren.

Picture her stepping in wherever something was broken or overlooked, whenever a task needed someone who would never turn away from a challenge. Singing. Laughing. Watching movies curled on the couch with Craig late at night, especially a vampire story or a romance spanning the centuries.

Sandi had an extraordinary ability to take care of what was right in front of her, no matter what it was. She was a natural fixer and problem-solver—reliable, capable, and steady. In her neighborhood, she became an unofficial backbone: running newsletters, helping neighbors, improving shared spaces, and quietly handling whatever needed to be done. Many benefited from her efforts without ever realizing how much of their community functioned because of her care.

Through it all, Sandi lived with resilience. Despite chronic illness and ongoing health challenges, she never stopped showing up. She lived life “strength by strength”—not needing to know how she would get through the next challenge, but focusing on the one at hand. As strength rose and fell across life’s long journey, she rode alongside the wave and kept going, with enough strength for today—and more tomorrow.

Faith was a huge part of Sandi’s life. In her adult years, she sought a path that looked past tradition to what she discovered as her Biblical truth. She didn’t preach, but instead lived her faith—trusting that God brought forth all life with purpose, and believing His mercy and immense love embrace all of His creation.

If Sandi could leave anything behind, it would not be a grand proclamation, but an example: that a meaningful life is built through small, consistent acts of care, responsibility, and love. Show up. Take care of what’s in front of you. Love deeply, without judgment. And in that, live a life of meaning.

Sandi believed this: although she now sleeps for a season, she will again awaken. Then we shall be reunited in a world of peace and equity for all, “when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a charitable donation to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation in Sandi’s name. https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org