Sandee Coddington passes away

 

Sandra Dietz-Coddington, wife of retired BJ production chairman Dick Coddington, passed away Friday, May 15. They lived on Jekyll Island, Georgia and were active in island preservation activities.

Dick retired from Ol’ Blue Walls in 1999.

Sandee Coddington

Sandee’s obituary:

 

Sandra Dietz-Coddington

1938 - 2015
Our most Merciful Lord loaned us Sandee 76 years ago and on May 15, 2015, He took her back. I borrowed this most appropriate lead from the obit of Sandee's good friend, Maria Zagami. We rejoice that Sandee has been reunited with family members, and many friends including Maria.

Sandee Dietz-Coddington was born in Ravenna, Ohio on December 14, 1938 and lived in Kent, Ohio. Following high school and a couple of years at Kent State and Ohio University, Sandee moved to Akron, Ohio where she worked for the Akron Beacon Journal. While working for the Beacon Journal, she met her husband of 50 years, Richard (Dick) Coddington.

Sandee and Dick married in Kent, Ohio on September 5, 1964. They lived in and around Akron, Ohio until August 31, 1999 when Dick retired and they moved to their current residence on Jekyll Island, Ga. For several years Sandee worked at various shops in the Historic District on Jekyll Island where she enjoyed talking with and providing local history to the many Island visitors. She also volunteered with St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Jekyll Island, helped decorate the Historic District for Christmas, and was a Sea Turtle guide.

Sandee's work and volunteer activities were cut short in 2006 when she suffered a second heart episode which was later diagnosed as Atrial Fibrillation. Adding AFib to Diabetes, full body tremors and Graves Disease (thyroid), conditions she had been dealing with for many years, forced Sandee to reduce activities, including work in the shops, volunteering, and eventually, her daily sunrise beach walks with husband Dick. She was also diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2007 and in 2010 she fell and broke her left hip. The dementia was eventually diagnosed as Alzheimer's, a debilitating, slow developing, life-ending disease that is devastating to senior citizens, their families and friends. As I read in a recent AARP article, "NO PERSON DIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMER'S HAS EVER SURVIVED". This is a closet disease that needs the attention of our lawmakers so funding will be made available to find the cure.

Our personal thanks to the entire staff at SGHS Senior Care Center for their dedication to every patient under their care. Special thanks goes to the nurses, CNA's and cleaning staff who work nonstop caring for patients and their environment under extremely difficult circumstances.

Sandee is survived by her husband, Dick Coddington of Jekyll Island; her daughter, Mitzi Helems of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; her son, Sean and daughter-in-law, Andi of St. Johns, Florida; granddaughters, Mandy Helems of Barberton, Ohio and Nikki Helems of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; grandson, Hayden Coddington of St. Johns, Florida; and her beloved companion Diego. She is also survived by her brother, Don Dietz of Virginia.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 13, 2015, at the Jekyll United Methodist Church, with Father Timothy McKeown officiating. In lieu of flowers, please consider sending this death notice to your law makers and seek their support for Alzheimer's research funding.

 

Published in Akron Beacon Journal on May 24, 2015