Santina "Sandy" Spaulding

“When tomorrow starts without me, don’t think we’re far apart, for every time you think of me, I’m right here in your heart.”

Santina (Sandy) Hella Spaulding, 94, went to be with her Lord on April 25th, 2025.

She was born on September 20th, 1930 in Tubingen, Germany to Nicolos and Maria Melingo of Treiste, Italy. Sandy lived a full life measured not just in years, but in many, many friends, stories, and smiles. Raised throughout Europe prior to WWII, she was multi-lingual. She was an accomplished gymnast and equestrian as a child and aspired to being an actress one day. Her mother absolutely forbade her from going to Berlin as a teenager to begin her acting career due to the onset of WWII. As the war concluded, she had lost her father. Her and her mother miraculously escaped to England with the help of two sympathetic Russian soldiers. Sadly, her mother passed away prior to Sandy’s 18th birthday, leaving her to survive on her own. Sandy eventually met and married her husband, Kenneth E. Spaulding, a U.S. Airman from West Virginia who was serving overseas after the war. Their marriage spanned almost half a century. With the personal assistance of Mamie Eisenhower, Sandy emigrated from Europe to America, where she got her U.S. citizenship and became a full-time Air Force wife. She and Kenneth raised three children in various posts from California to Florida, with an overseas post in Japan in between where she also volunteered with the Red Cross.

As the children grew up, Sandy took on employment, working as a cashier in Officer’s Clubs at Ken’s various posts. Eventually, once they moved to Niceville, Florida, she took on jobs off the base, starting as a cashier with Pantry Pride. From there, she was hired by Valparaiso Vanguard Bank and Trust where she served as their Drive-Up teller for over twenty years. During that time, she was known for her friendliness with everyone who drove through, giving out suckers to her human customers and doggie biscuits to her furry ones. She absolutely LOVED working at the bank’s drive-up window and refused every offer to work inside the bank because she didn’t want to lose the daily interactions she had with her drive-thru “friends”.

She retired from banking and traveled for a while with Kenneth, then decided to go back to work with her daughter, tagging t-shirts in what she jokingly called the “sweatshop”. She was “Mom” to all the kids that worked there, some of whom were J1 Visa students who were able to speak their native language with her. She worked there for many years until her final retirement in August 2018 at the age of 87.

Living in Niceville, she became known for her beloved ’66 convertible Mustang. When she wasn’t racing it, she was toting her kids and their friends to football games and other school functions on weekdays and heading to the beach with the top down on weekends.

Regardless of the reason, she loved dressing up, wearing her bright-colored clothing with shoes and purse to match, and a pair of the hundreds of earrings she loved to pick from. On those rare occasions when she would leave the house without all of her jewelry on, she would insist on going back inside to put some on, saying that she felt naked without them. And although her favorite color was purple, she could always be seen with her famous blue polish on her fingers and toes. Sandy loved the beach, roller-skating, motorcycles, and boating (taking numerous pontoon trips around the bay with her daughters and favorite son-in-law). Most of all, though, she loved animals. The dogs and other pets that she and her daughters had throughout the years were literally part of the family. Even wild animals had a special place for her. She would catch lizards in her house and carefully take them outside. On the other hand, she absolutely hated bugs. If she thought that there was a bug in the house (not “bugs”… but just one bug), NOBODY was going to bed until that bug was found and removed. And forget about picnics…

Sandy is survived by her children, Johnny C. Spaulding (his wife, Susan, preceded her in death), Patricia, and Sandy (with her husband, Tim, Santina’s FSIL), along with her three grandchildren, Jennifer (with her husband Gary), Joe, and Jane.

She had more than one family as she was a part of many, including the Kempton family (she thought of Barbara as one of her own), the Dick family, her Scott Street family, and her Fud family.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to the Alaqua Animal Refuge or your local animal shelter.

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