The Elizabethtown College community is mourning the loss of Alexandra “Sandy” Spayd. Spayd worked at the College for 30 years; she was first hired in 1981 and retired in 2012.

During her time at Etown, she served in several different positions, including a nurse in Health Services, co-chair of the Employee Wellness Team and the Director of Health Promotion.

As the Director of Health Promotion, Spayd led the efforts to deliver a health promotion program for Etown students. That health promotion program became known as the WELL, which is a location run by Student Wellness where students can receive information and resources about their health and well-being. The WELL was developed in 2009 and was seen as a turning point in Etown student health.

Many students and faculty remember Spayd as an employee of the College, but it is also important to commemorate Spayd for her personality.

Etown College Health Liaison Eileen Wagener started working for the College in 2007, and she worked with Spayd for several years. Wagener had nothing but kind things to say about Spayd.

“Sandy really loved the College,” Wagener said. “She was very committed to the College, and she lived here in Elizabethtown. Sandy was a really, really lovely person. She’s very positive. She’s very open. People really liked Sandy, and I think she loved working with the students and was very fulfilled. She felt at home here. She was well-loved by everyone, and I think she was very happy in her role here.”

Wagener talked about how students viewed Spayd’s personality, saying that everyone saw Spayd as compassionate, optimistic and kind.

“[Spayd] loved working with students,” Wagener said. “Students would often come to Sandy just to talk to her. People were drawn to her that way.”

In the last three years that Spayd worked as the Director of Health Promotion, Wagener said how Spayd was more involved in promoting health and health education.

Spayd worked on programs and helped peer health educators, who now comprise Etown’s Student Wellness Advocacy Group (SWAG).

“She was still my supervisor even in that role,” Wagener said. “She and I would work together on certain projects; we used to go to campus to give all the flu shots. And she was very supportive of me in this new role.”

But above all, Wagener remembered Spayd as a friend in addition to being a fellow worker at the College.

“Sandy was also my friend after she wasn’t my supervisor,” Wagener said. “For the past five years we’ve been friends.”

A memorial service was held for Spayd Wednesday, Nov. 28 at the United Church of Christ in Elizabethtown.