Sandra Marie Hitt Watts

Our beloved Sandra Marie Hitt Watts passed away peacefully May 24, 2023 and is now celebrating her life in the presence of our Lord Jesus. She was born on August 8, 1944 in Dallas, Texas in the Florence Nightingale Hospital to Ruby Nell and James Hitt. Sandra was raised in South Dallas and graduated from South Oak Cliff High School in 1962. Married in 1963, she went on to raise a daughter and a son in South Dallas, eventually settling in Garland, Texas. She was very active at Lover’s Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas for most of her life and later became part of the Arapaho Road Baptist Church community in Garland, where she volunteered in the children’s ministry.

All through Sandra’s life, her spirit of volunteerism was present. For five years during her teen years, she served in the Elmwood Assembly No. 285 Order of the Rainbow for Girls and was appointed Grand Patriotism of the Grand Assembly. Early in her working career, as the special events coordinator for American Federal Bank and while teaching a continuing education class at North Lake, she volunteered actively for the Family Place, especially the Hoop It Up events. Later her passion for children led her to work for Bryan’s House in Dallas, TX, where she, as special events coordinator, spoke at corporate and community events to help raise money for their mission to provide services to mothers and their children affected with HIV/Aids. During this time, she continued to volunteer through her work and church. She was also a member of the Red Hat Society in Dallas. 

When Sandra wasn’t spending time with family and friends or serving others, she competed in chili cook offs in Texas, the surrounding states, and the Terlingua International Chill Cookoff, winning trophies all along the way! Her family still makes her secret, award-winning chili to this day! She also loved photography, taking pictures of nature and flowers along her many travels. She appreciated good music, dancing, and had a big heart for all kinds of animals, raising and loving many pets over her lifetime including dogs, cats, rabbits, ducks and hamsters. 

Always promoting fun, positivity, and a spirit of love and acceptance, Sandra had the ability to make whomever she was speaking to feel like the most important person in the room. Whether she was garage sale hopping in her neighborhood or off to another state on a big adventure, she never met a stranger.

Sandra is survived by her daughter Shelley McConnico and her husband David, and her son Michael Watts and his wife Stacy, her grandchildren Austin McConnico, Ashlyn Dean, Parker Watts, Gavin Watts, Gracy Watts, and Ruby Watts and great grandchildren Sawyer McConnico, Stetson McConnico, and Lawson Dean.

She is preceded in death by her parents, James and Ruby Nell Hitt, and her brother James Hitt.

A celebration of Sandra’s life will be held in Mexia, Texas at Blair-Stubbs Funeral Home at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 27, 2023. Officiated by  Reverend Jaime McGlothin.  Pallbearers will be Michael Watts, David McConnico, Austin McConnico, Parker Watts, Gavin Watts, and Charles Sanders.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the American Alzheimer’s Association.