Sally Landsburg

Born with a smile on her face in Vallejo, CA, Sally grew up as an Air Force brat following her dad’s career through California, Arizona, Germany and France. Sally was brought to the Lord during these formative years. Her family summer-vacationed in North Bloomfield, CA where she first met me, Ron; I would eventually become the love of her life. She was visiting North Bloomfield when I got out of the Air Force, and we fell in love. We were separated by circumstances but reunited at North Bloomfield in 1967 and married on August 31, 1968. After a short stint of backsliding (think my influence here), she reconnected to the Lord to guide our family in His ways the rest of her life. After several years of wedded bliss together, she wanted to start a family. This scared me to death at first, but we went on to have a wonderful son, Jim. Sally and I took two cruises, one to the Caribbean before Jim was born and another after his birth, on the pacific side of Mexico. Overkilling my role as breadwinner, I became a workaholic. Sally almost left me but the Lord, thankfully, told her not to. Instead, she decided to get more involved in our logging company so we would have more time together. She became the Office Manager while also being a relief or full-time driver of our trucks, ranging from 1 Ton to 80,000-pound big rigs. She loved driving the most. I was so proud of her – she was undoubtedly my best driver. During this same time she was caring for my ailing parents (12 miles away), running our household, and putting Jim through a Christian school. Sally developed major blood clots and was forced out of her beloved driving job, and simultaneously my parents became unable to live on their own. She started caring for them in our home, sharing duties 50/50 with my brother/partner, Jeff, and his lovely wife, Melinda. This all took a toll on our son. Having an overworked mom and a workaholic dad resulted in a few bad years for him as a young man. However, a very loving spitfire named Melissa entered Jim’s life, and both of them reunited with the Lord. They made both Sally and me so very proud of them as they brought grandkids and great-grandkids our way. When overkill environmental rules and excessive timber harvesting permit fees brought our company to ruin, Sally and I downsized to just the two of us for a few years. After we finally closed the company completely, she worked in a doctor’s office; was an administrative assistant at a sleep apnea clinic; then a caregiver for Home Instead. Later Sally sold manufactured homes and volunteered in the office at our beloved Foothill Church. While our son grew up, we took motorhome trips all over the North coast and part of Canada. After Jim was older, Sally and I took annual vacations to the coast (a little town named Elk). We enjoyed several wine country tours, and numerous trips to the Southwest: watching trains, exploring desert gardens, Flagstaff Crater, Montezuma Castle, the Grand Canyon, and much more. In 2006 Sally was overjoyed when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on January 22nd. On February 14th, our beloved Pastor Sam officiated the renewal of our wedding vows and we were able to take a second honeymoon along the central CA coast. In 2011 Sally was diagnosed with peritoneal cancer and given 12 months to live. But our Lord had other ideas and put it in remission, stunning all of her doctors. They literally called her a living miracle…and it never came back! She was even able to tour Hearst Castle after this battle for her life. In 2012 she was diagnosed with precancerous DCIS breast lumps and had them removed. Sally let none of this interfere with our vacations or her work! In 2016 (October 21st) Sally suffered a spinal blood-vein rupture resulting from medical mistakes that caused supratherapeutic blood thinning – leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. We were living in a fifth-wheel trailer without a suitable place for Sally to live. She was forced into a skilled nursing home for 2-1/2 years while we looked for an ADA-equipped motorhome. Many health problems occurred during that stay including two bouts of pneumonia, six to eight UTIs, several pressure sores, and yet another blood clot. Through it all Sally never lost her good nature and smile. Virtually everyone at the home loved her when we finally found our ADA motorhome on May 7, 2019. Sally moved into our new home on July 3, 2019 where we lived the closest, richest and most rewarding six months of our lives. In late 2019 breast cancer reared its ugly head again, causing the need for a mastectomy that was done January 15, 2020. Sally’s operation and post-procedure meds caused severe obstipation, but she was sent to a skilled nursing facility anyway. They couldn’t fix it and sent her back to the hospital. After eight days they fixed the obstipation, but she had developed RSV, a viral infection, while hospitalized. However, they sent her back to skilled nursing again. They couldn’t fix that either, so on March 3rd, after an unmanageable coughing spell, she was sent back to the hospital where she was treated for RSV and put in a room for observation. Early on the morning of the 4th she had another uncontrollable coughing spell, plugging her airway and causing a cardiac arrest. CPR and multiple fractured ribs later, she only survived a couple of weeks before meeting her Lord on March 25, 2020 at 2:15 p.m. She fought hard but wasn’t destined to get the type of medical help she needed at every turn. I am grateful that Jesus allowed me to be holding her hand as He welcomed her home. Sally was a really strong, loving, Christian woman ~ my Proverbs 31 woman, for sure! The Lord could not possibly have provided a more loving and dedicated wife for me than her. In her catalogue of pictures, one can see that Sally was born with a smile – it never left her face, even through death! She always said she wanted everyone she met to love her…I don’t know anyone who didn’t. Those of you that know her best know there is much more to the story of this lovely woman. Sally always stood strong in forgiving people as our Lord commands us to do. I, Hubby, can appreciate that more than anyone. Sally is survived by her “hubby,” Ron; her son, Jim (Melissa); her sister, Patti; her grandkids, Cameron, Travis and Larry; great-grandkids, Lyla and Kassidi; cousins Cindi, Marsha, Terry, and Bevy; as well as “almost family” Kari (Bob), and Valerie (Anthony). Sally will be missed as well by many special friends: Katherine (Joe), Becky, Sue, Marilyn, Lisa, Pat, Connie, Terry, Cynthia, Tim, Don, Joe, Andy, Sam (Jaima), Amy, Debby, Karen (Clif), Karen (Randy), Terilyn, Evelyn, Wayne, George, Lily, Coryn (Zack), Cheryl (George), Clayton, Roberta, Jim, Anna, Peter, and Gary (Collette). She left hundreds of friends she loved and touched in her too-short church and community life…you all know who you are! “May God bless you, Honey, until we are together in our permanent home with the Lord.”

Sally Landsburg

December 6, 1946 - March 25, 2020