HIGH SCHOOL YEARS - Sandy was in the FHA, and went to the District FHA Convention all four years. She was in the Pep Club, and the Girls Athletic Association. She also played drums in the band, and went to the District Music Meet. She acted in the school one act plays, the all school play her senior year (Time Out for Ginger), and belonged to the Thespians. She worked for the Beaver paper doing advertising.
FROM THE YEARBOOK - “I will to Diana Squires the fun I’ve had in BCHS.” (Diana was class of 1957.)
CLASS OF 1956 REUNITED AFTER TWENTY YEARS. Sandy forecast that she would be - “a television star (lady wrestler)”. (Note that the closest she came to this was a volunteer patrol officer.)
FROM THE OCT 12, 1954 BEAVER - ‘SEEN AROUND’ - “Sandra McArthur seen with a boy named Chester from Helena.” (Sandy tells me that they were “just friends”.)
AFTER HIGH SCHOOL - Sandy went straight from graduation to Radiology Technology School (at that time X-ray Technician) in Denver. This was a 24 month course. She worked at this in Denver for about a year, until she got married.
Sandy married a Denver policeman in 1960 and divorced him in 1964. After her divorce, she moved from Denver to Tucson, AZ where she worked as a radiology technologist until her retirement in 2003.
OK, now here is somewhat of a bummer. In the early days of radiology particularly, they had to work with strong chemicals. As a result, Sandy now has COPD (a chronic lung disease). She is getting treatment that she says helps a lot.
Here is something that is different. In Tucson, Sandy took Volunteer Patrol training with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. And when she graduated, her dad came and pinned on her badge. (OK NOW PAY ATTENTION. Sandy’s dad, Albert McArthur, is still alive and going strong at 94 in San Diego. AND he is living with his main squeeze. They play bingo 2 to 3 times a week.)
To get back to her patrol work. She did actual patrol (non-armed) duties. She drove the command post for SWAT on actual call outs. Duties also included traffic control, home security, neighborhood watch, and lots of child fingerprinting. She helped other deputies as needed. She says that this allowed her to see a lot of celebrities and go behind the scenes. She did this for ten years before retiring.
She is now a Retired Registered Radiology Technologist. She is Past President of the District Chapter of Arizona State Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASSRT).
FAMILY - After her divorce, Sandy did not remarry. She had a daughter Sherlyn Ann. Sherlyn Ann is married to Dave Farrell, and they live in Highland Ranch, Colorado (south edge of Denver). Dave is a medical technologist for Kaiser. Sherlyn Ann is a CPA and does consulting from her home. They have four boys - Ryan, 19, Drew, 17, Trey, 12, and Shaun, 9.
LEISURE ACTIVITIES - In her younger years, Sandy’s time was taken with being a single working mother, and the patrol volunteer work. Now she is somewhat limited because of the COPD, but likes to play Mahjong on her computer.
HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES - For as far back as she can remember, has been friends with Dottie Andersen Hilger. Other special friends included Loretta Bourassa Tribble and Marilyn Smith.
Favorite teachers were Mrs. McCollum, math. Mr. Posey, Spanish, Miss Christie, home ec., and George Scott, social sciences.
Sandy says that “it does not seem possible that our years at BCHS were that long ago. There were some good times never to be forgotten.”.