Sandra Jo Sparks, 84, formerly of Ottumwa, passed peacefully on July 19, 2024 at Karen Acres in Urbandale.
She was born May 23, 1940 in Ottumwa to William “Bud” and Helen Julis Court.
As a lifelong citizen of Ottumwa, Sandy graduated from Ottumwa High School in 1957. After graduation, she worked summers at Ottumwa Hotel as an elevator operator. Her claim to fame, she liked to tell everyone, was taking James Arness (of Gunsmoke) in the elevator up to his floor. Sandy went off to Kirksville, MO to attend Northeast Missouri State Teachers College before returning to Ottumwa to work at John Deere Ottumwa Works in various departments. She would soon leave the workforce when she met Kermit Sparks and they were married April 8, 1960. They were blessed with 47 years of marriage and 2 sons, Randy and Tony, before Kermit’s passing in 2008. Sandy returned to the workforce in 1979, working for the State of Iowa Department of Motor Vehicle Enforcement and the Department of Revenue and Finance, retiring in 2001.
Sandy was a 60-year member of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority. She was a passionate BINGO enthusiast and enjoyed many activities including gardening, flowers, crafts, quilting, golfing, traveling and family. Sandy was known as a devoted baseball/softball “mother” to her sons and husband and spent many hours attending all of their sporting events. She once said, “I never really had a Mother’s Day meal, because we were usually at a ballfield and eating McDonalds after the game.”
Surviving are her sons, Randy (Pam) Sparks of Waukee and Tony (Raynee) Sparks of Johnston; 4 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren, Matt (Megan) Sparks and their children, Emma and Matthew, Leah (Brandon) Ruef and their daughter, Elizabeth, Abbey (Kirby) Rock and their children, Jackson and Cecilia and Mitchell (Katie) Sparks and their children, Andrew, Anna and Michael; and her brother, Dan Court of Columbia, MO.
She was preceded in death by her parents and sister-in-law, Tona Court.
Visitation will be open at 10 a.m. Friday, July 26th at Reece Funeral Home with the family present to greet friends from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday.
Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Saturday, July 27th at First Lutheran Church. Entombment will be in Shrine of Memories Mausoleum.
Memorials may be made to First Lutheran Church.Hide
