This Easter season started on a somber note for the congregation of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Monument, as former Pastor Sandra Kay Hanawalt died on March 25.

She was 66.

“Her trust in God never wavered, throughout her time of illness and cancer treatment,” said Bonnie Angotti, the congregation president.

According to her obituary Hanawalt was born in Moses Lake, Washington on September 6, 1956. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area before heading to Washington state for a bachelor’s of Christian Education from the Lutheran Bible Institute of Seattle. She would go on to attend the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. She would be ordained into the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1990.

Hanawalt would come to Trinity Lutheran in August of 2007 as an Associate Pastor until her retirement in April, 2021. She stayed in the area and remained close with friends and congregants before returning to the Bay Area in March 2022 to be closer to her family.

“Pastor Sandy was a deeply loving, hearty laughing, inspired minister of word and sacrament,” Angotti said. “Her arms were wide open to all.”

Friend and congregation member Patsy Janeba echoed those sentiments.

“I think she was very supportive,” said Janeba. “But she was challenging in a way that she didn’t let you stay stagnant … She challenged your faith and your commitment to commitment and your faith and to God.

“She challenged you to be better in all aspects.”

Friends recall Hanawalt as being full of life, known for loving travel, good wine, good books and being a steadfast friend as well as a pastor. Angotti said she got to visit with Hanawalt just weeks before her passing, hold her hand and sing with her.

“It was a privilege to know her as my beloved friend,” Angotti said.

The church, physically located at 17750 Knollwood Drive in Monument, has an active congregation of around 200 people according to Janeba. Trinity Lutheran is in the midst of seeking donations and grants to complete an ADA-accessible sensory playground for the Monument community, and gearing up for hosting a vacation Bible school camp in June.

Last week the church hosted several Easter-season special events, albeit without Hanawalt.

“I think Easter makes it easier, if you truly believe in the resurrection, and that this was not the end and we’ll be with her again,” said Janeba. “I just see her up in heaven organizing everything and singing at the top of her lungs.”