Sandra L. Staton

Sandra Staudt Staton, a longtime resident of Harlingen, died Friday, October 29, 2021, of complications from multiple sclerosis. She was 81.

Born in Fredericksburg on May 17, 1940, to Clemens and Marine Staudt, Sandra spent her early childhood there and in Austin, and then the family moved to the Rio Grande Valley. She and her sister, Dari Gale, went to Landrum Elementary in San Benito, then to Gay Junior High and Harlingen High School.

While at HHS, Sandra was a Cardette; a member of National Honor Society, Y-Teens and the drama club; and president of Future Homemakers of America. She graduated in 1958. She went to Durham’s Business College, where she studied bookkeeping and secretarial skills, and worked at Paschall’s dress shop downtown.

It was there that she met Marion Staton, who had walked over from the U.S. Post Office to introduce himself. Though she was engaged to marry someone else at the time—and flashed her engagement ring at him—Marion was persistent, and they married nine months later, on Sept. 1, 1961. They went on a road trip to California for their honeymoon. At his death in 2017, they had been married 56 years.

Together they raised two children, Tracy and Travis, living first in a small house on Williamson Street, and later in Primera and Stuart Place. She was always busy around the house, cooking, baking, cleaning, and sewing. She made clothes for herself, the kids, and Tracy’s dolls, plus costumes for Halloween and school plays, and dozens of Christmas ornaments. She baked excellent pies. Her children will remember her for her quirky turns of phrase, such as, “He took off like a ruptured duck” and other Sandra-coined sayings.

Sandra worked at the Lila-Jean dress shop and taught shorthand at Durham’s, but her career really began when she was hired by Frank Boggus as his part-time secretary at Boggus Motors in the early 1970s. Several years later, she moved to the bookkeeping department and was later promoted to office manager. On his days off from the Post Office, Marion would take the kids to pick her up at Boggus and spend her coffee break having a taco at Las Vegas Cafe. She was very dedicated to her job and her colleagues at Boggus and worked there until her retirement in 2002.

Sandra volunteered at her children’s schools and helped with their extra-curricular activities. She was in the PTA at Dishman, Wilson and Stuart Place elementaries; worked for Gay, Vernon and Harlingen High School’s Band Boosters; served as a judge for UIL speech and debate tournaments; supported their 4-H projects with the Harlingen Beef Club; sold hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout cookies; and never missed a piano recital, band concert or football game. She also enjoyed helping to plan her own HHS class of ’58 reunions. Her senior El Arroyo yearbook has notations about whom her classmates had married and where they worked and lived.

Sandra also was active at the First United Methodist Church in Harlingen. She sang in the choir there and, when Marion led the singing for the men’s Sunday School class, she attended that class with him, the lone woman in the room.

Sandra and Marion loved to travel; they took the kids camping in the Hill Country every summer and on trips into Northern Mexico, as well as visits to family and friends around Texas. As empty nesters, Sandra and Marion hit the road with their travel trailer, often meeting up with family to travel together. They road-tripped to Colorado, across the South, through New England, and around eastern Canada, and went on cruises to the Yucatan and to the Bahamas. After they both retired, they spent some time as volunteer hosts at state parks in the Texas Hill Country. In 2003, they moved to Marble Falls, where they attended First Methodist Church and volunteered at Seton Highland Lakes Hospital.

In 2013, they moved back to Harlingen and lived at Golden Palms. Sandra was soon diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which progressed rapidly, leaving her in a wheelchair. In early 2017, she moved into Retama Manor, where she lived at the time of her death. Her children appreciate the care and assistance Sandra received through her illness from the staff at Retama and her caregiver, Rosa Delgado.

Sandra was preceded in death by her husband, Marion; her parents, Clemens and Marine Staudt; and her brother, Tommy Staudt. She is survived by her sister, Dari Gale Adams; her son, Travis; her daughter and son-in-law, Tracy Staton and John Carroll; and her grandchildren, Fergus, Áine and Anjelica Carroll.

Sandra’s family will receive relatives and friends on Wednesday, November 3, 2021 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Buck Ashcraft San Benito Funeral Home.  A service to celebrate Sandra’s life and legacy will take place Thursday, November 4, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. in the Clift Chapel of First United Methodist Church, Harlingen.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to First United Methodist Church of Harlingen or the charity of your choice.