November 23, 1944 – March 27, 2020 – (age 75)
Sandra Lee Bowman Goodsell, 75 of Logan, Utah and a longtime resident of Newton, Utah passed away March 27, 2020 at her home surrounded by her family.
Sandy was born November 23, 1944, in Preston Idaho the daughter of Glen and Amy Webster Bowman of Cub River. At just over a year old, her mother moved her to Tooele where her dad was stationed as a guard at the Tooele Army Depot. At the age of three, the family moved back to Cub River where they lived in a one-room house with no running water and curtains served as walls for privacy. She lived in that home until the age of 16 when being the stubborn young woman that she was, she chose to move into the home that her father was building for the family, even though it was far from complete and only plastic sheeting for a window. She often talked about waking up with snow on her bed, but she had her own space, which is all she wanted.
She attended schools in Franklin until the 8th grade, then attended Preston High School. Class of 1962. Even though life was not easy, she enjoyed her childhood growing up in Cub River and Preston surrounded by large numbers of friends and family.
At the age of just 17 Sandy married Gary Goodsell on February 16, 1962, and from that union they raised five children. Sandy worked diligently to raise a family and sadly had multiple babies that did not make it to birth. It seemed for about the first 15 years of their marriage, she was always pregnant which earned her the nickname Ma Kettle, from other family members as she always seemed to be pregnant or “had a bun in the oven”.
Gary and Sandy purchased a small property right on the Main street in Newton, Utah where they started a dairy farm and milked Holstein cows. The family would be raised on that property as well as a few acres of farmland that they worked to provide crops for the cattle. Sandy worked hard to make the farm a success and to provide for her family. It was often said that she could outwork two men and she was never afraid to drive a tractor, milk the cows, nurse a sick animal, drive the trucks and bail wagons. She was even a key operator in Goodsell Custom Hay Hauling, hauling hay for farmers all over Cache Valley. She could maneuver the bail wagon in and out of places that most wouldn’t try and almost always left a perfect stack. Every fall she would be seen driving the corn silage truck for hours and days at a time, while still making sure her family was fed, clothed and ready for school each day.
As her boys got into 4H showing dairy cattle, she would be right there helping to lead the calves to walk on a halter, bathing for shows and was always the one to haul the animals to the fairs, while Gary often did not agree, she knew how important it was to her boys. Since her mother Amy was a talent musician on the guitar and vocals, the two of them encouraged the girls to sing and perform at all kinds of talent shows and even television performances in Salt Lake. Grandma Amy would play and sing along with them as they sang and danced. Sandy made sure that they were at every event that they could do. She was also an excellent seamstress and made many of the clothes that her kids, especially her daughters wore growing up.
Sandy loved to be outdoors as much as possible and loved playing softball in her younger years and later in life, she took up golfing which she thoroughly enjoyed. She also played on bowling leagues for many years and on several occasions traveled to other state and competitions. She has maintained life-long friendships with many of the women from the leagues. Sandy always loved and maintained a beautiful yard, keeping it mowed regularly and flowers in all kinds of gardens.
When the farm wasn’t bringing in enough to pay the bills, Sandy went to work for the Herald Journal delivering newspapers on a rural route every day in Benson, Amalga, Trenton, Newton, Clarkston, and Cache Junction. It didn’t matter the weather, she was out there making sure the job was done. She later took over the ownership and operation of the Newton Grocery store and Cafe’ which she operated as “Sandy’s Family Affair” for several years with her daughters.
Sandy and Gary divorced in 1994 and she moved into Logan to start her new life. Even though she had no credit and had never had her name on a checking account, as that is just the way it was back then, she worked diligently to create a new life. With the help of a very good family friend, she was able to buy herself a small townhouse and she thrived being the independent woman she always was. She went to work for Wescor where she worked for 17 years until her retirement at the age of 67.
Sandy inherited from her parents a small piece of land right on the Cub River, that at first was nothing more than weeds and cattails. Over several years she along with her kids worked to develop the land into an amazing family campground with electricity including several RV hookups, a kitchen area, with hot water and great cook station, a covered RV pad for herself and all the amenities of a great campground. Sandy spent pretty much every weekend on the property over the past 20 years, developing the land, tending to the lawn and trees and even planting flowers. The campground was as much her pride and joy as her children were.
Over the past five years, Sandy’s health had begun to deteriorate. She faced multiple surgeries and poor physical health, then losing the ability to walk without a walker and eventually a wheelchair. She still took on the challenges of daily care for herself and mastered learning to drive a vehicle with hand controls so that she could get herself around and most importantly to the campground.
Sandy is survived by her five children, Todd Goodsell of Preston; Wendy (Mike) Farr, Chris Izatt and Julie Monson all of Logan and Troy (Carrie) Goodsell of Petersboro. Two brothers Gary (Jeri Lynn) Bowman of Preston, William (Rosie) Steinkamp of Bremerton, Washington: and a very special sister Shirley Bowman also of Preston. She was the matriarch to 13 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren. She was a loving, caring, hard-working woman who will be missed by all who knew her.
She was preceded in death by her parents Glen and Amy Bowman; two grandsons, Travis Robert Goodsell and Steven Todd Goodsell, and a great-granddaughter Saphera Sage Allen.
At Sandy’s request, there will be no funeral services. A Celebration Of Life will be held at the campground in the summer, with a date to be announced for her many friends to attend.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Franklin County Funeral Home, 56 South State Street, Preston, Idaho. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials may be made in Sandy’s name to the Cache Employment and Training Center at 275 West 400 South, Logan, Utah 84321 or to a charity of your choice. This organization was special to Sandy and her family for all that they have done for Shirley and for all the other special needs kids in the area.
Please share a favorite memory of Sandy or offer condolences to the family by leaving at franklincountyfuneral.com