Sandra Beth Cosby (Tulia)

Sandra Beth Cosby, 69, of Tulia, Texas, joined her husband Michael Roscoe Cosby in Heaven on July 10, 2021. In the wake of her loss, those who loved and knew her count their blessings, knowing they have forever been changed by her life.

Sandy was born in Lamesa, Texas on April 21, 1952 to Bud and Hazel DuBois.  She attended Lubbock schools, moving to Tulia her Sophomore year. The first day she walked up to Debbie Johnson and asked her to go grab lunch. The two have been best friends ever since. Even as at teen, Sandy’s welcoming personality was undaunted by being the new girl in town.

After graduation, she attended West Texas State College where she focused on business classes.  She taught the shorthand she learned there to her daughter, Amanda, who found the skill invaluable as she completed Nurse Practitioner school. Sandy’s business skills were useful to the Tulia community where she worked at several offices, including Reeves Insurance and the law office of Evans, Rohde, & Criswell, where her employer, Steve Rohde, remarked that even with numerous surgeries, she never complained. Sandy always came back and knew where everything was when it was needed.

In her personal life, Sandy filled every room with love and joy. For her family and friends, she was their “safe place” in the world. Children loved her and her them.  Sandy’s laugher echoed through the walls of her home like waves of a gentle blanket.  Amanda said, “She was the mom who decorated for every holiday, even Halloween.” 

Since their marriage on November 30, 1974, Mike and Sandy shared everything for 47 years.  Together, they built a strong home in which their two daughters, Amanda and Kaci, thrived. When hard times came, they chose to face things with laughter instead of tears. Mike always encouraged Sandy to strive for her utmost.  A Nurse may tell her to walk to the door for post-surgery rehab, Mike would say, “Nah – go to the door AND BACK, Sandy.”  Sandy would do it every time with the same grit with which she faced daily tasks.  Sandy remembered fondly Mike staying with her every night at the hospital after brain surgery.  When it was hardest for her to be alone, Mike made sure she wasn’t.  Sandy also found comfort and pride in the fact her two daughters, Amanda and Kaci, excelled in school in spite of her hospitalizations and illness.

As a young mother, Sandy served as a Girl Scout leader and helped with numerous camps, programs, and cookie sales. She always supported her children and even community children in whatever activity they undertook, be it sporting events or Stock Shows.  She supported her husband Mike in his work, encouraging him through times of change and grief when he lost his father and changed careers. Mike and Sandy were more than lovers, they were friends.  One of the last times I saw Sandy I asked, “What Western are you watching?”  “Gunsmoke,” she replied, shaking her head, “Michael hated it because he’d say, ‘We’ve seen this one a thousand times, Sandy!’ but I’d always say, ‘Maybe so, but I don’t remember it!’”  That’s the humor with which they faced life’s stages, the beginning, middle and end.

Despite battling chronic illness, Sandy continued to go out into the community and venture to events regardless of the physical challenges she faced. She always wanted to be a part of the lives of the children and grandchildren she loved, to support them, and see their accomplishments. No inconvenience such as having to use a walker or a drooping eye were going to stand in the way of Sandy being present for her family. Her resilience in the face of adversity, her resolute yet kind way of confronting other’s looks or remarks, and her refusal to give up being an active person was astounding.

Friends described Sandy as selfless, hardworking, welcoming, and sincere. She treated people with kindness regardless of how they treated her, and she always took care of others in her life. She cared for family and friends over the years, doing what she could to make their lives more manageable and complete. For her father-in-law, this meant taking the 6ft-2in tall widower to appointments, lunches, and family events following his stroke. As a 5ft-2in woman, lifting him into a car or chair, was quite a feat; but Sandy never complained, she just cared.  It was this brand of selfless service that got Sandy voted a Worthy Matron by the Eastern Star, an order dedicated to charity, truth and loving kindness. 

Sandy taught her children to be kind, always try hard and try not to judge others, which has helped them in their career paths.  Not only did Sandy see the best in others, she seeded it. Be it friends, family, or strangers, no one could resist Sandy’s indomitable smile and gentle strength. When someone was around Sandy, they soon realized there just aren’t any excuses good enough for not trying your best. She was an inspiration, without ever trying to be.

For Sandy, it was her granddaughters, grandsons, daughters and sons-in-law that were the treasures of her life. The love she showered them with was abundant, and the pride she had in them was everlasting. In all things, she saw the potential for what was good, and every failure was simply a steppingstone to later success. For Sandy, what mattered most was not the destination but the company you kept along the journey. It wasn’t photos of trips to exotic places that adorned her rooms, but photos of family amid West Texas fields, soccer games, spas, gyms, and parks.  These were her travels, the momentos of the adventures that mattered most in her life – the times she shared with the people whom she loved. 

Sandy wanted to thank her friends & family who helped her over the years be it taking her to doctor appointments, for a coke or to games or watching over Kaci when Sandy & Mike were at the hospital.  Debbie Johnson, Celeste Howard, Dee & Ted Roberts, Connie Irlbeck, Janet Metcalf, and Diane – Sandy called you by name and wanted you to know you are loved and how much she appreciated your kindnesses over the years.

Sandy is proceeded in death by her husband, Michael Roscoe Cosby, and her parents, Bud and Hazel DuBois, of Lubbock.  She is survived by her brother, Larry DuBois of Neilsville, Wisconsin; sister, Diane Moorehouse of Lubbock; two daughters: Amanda Watson with husband, JD, of Tulia, and Kaci Thompson with husband, Matthew, of Lubbock; five grandchildren: Peyton, Presleigh, and Paxton Watson, of Tulia and Haddie and Cooper Thompson, of Lubbock.

No one can argue we are all better for having known Sandy.  Her way of stiving on, making the best of things and reaching for the goal despite the odds against you, these are the legacies that Sandy has left us – a steadfast determination that we live not according to others’ expectations but by our own will, tempered with love and fueled by faith. Coming back from falls, recovering from over 30 surgeries, every day battling weakness, loss, enduring grueling physical therapy – whatever it was, for Sandy, the only failure was a failure to try.  It is that spirit that continues to live on in the hearts of her children and grandchildren.

Funeral Services will be 2:00 pm Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at the First Methodist Church of Tulia with Pastor, Russ Panzer, officiating. Burial will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery. Funeral Services are under the direction of Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Tulia. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, July 13 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at the Kornerstone Funeral Directors located at 201 W. Broadway in Tulia. Online condolences can be made at www.kornerstonefunerals.com

Online condolences can be made at www.kornerstonefunerals.com.