Obituary of Jo Rose Sands

Jo Rose Sands passed away peacefully after a hard fought battle with cancer on Sunday, February 21, 2021 at the age of 72. Jo was a loving sister, mother and grandmother – affectionately known as “Boo”.Jo was born on July 9, 1948 in Galesburg, IL to Charles Randolph Rose and Joyce Burdin Rose with her twin sister, Joy. They moved to Frankfort, KY shortly thereafter. Her favorite childhood memories in Frankfort were spending time in the kitchen with Granny and eating baked leftover pie dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. In 1959, the family moved to Fort Worth and made Texas their home. Soon after graduating from Arlington Heights High School in 1966, she went to work at General Dynamics and stayed on through its transition to Lockheed Martin until her retirement in 2009. She loved being part of a team and bringing home treasures from her travels to Abu Dhabi and Poland. Never one to sit still for too long, in 2016 she started doing the bookkeeping at her daughters boutique. She formed great friendships working there and soon became “Boo” to all of the girls.She was known for her wonderful sense of humor, infectious laugh and her “Why not” attitude. Throughout her life, she enjoyed dancing, listening to good Country music, playing golf, riding her bike along the Trinity Trail, wandering through antique shops and scrolling through the local animal shelter websites. She adored her adopted dogs and each one held a special place in her heart. She absolutely loved a house project and would often spend weekends reupholstering furniture, remodeling a bathroom, painting, landscaping or planning the next project.Spending time with friends was also a big part of her life. She maintained friendship from as far back as her days at Ridglea Hills Elementary and seemed to have a friend wherever she went. She loved sharing and exploring her faith with the women in her Bible Study. A lover of good food, she was always on the lookout for the newest restaurant in town to try with her friends and was willing to try anything but always said, even up until the end that it was hard to beat a good cheeseburger and fries.As much as she loved her friends, work and projects, her two greatest joys were her grandsons, Charlie and Henry. They were the lights of her life and she spent as much time with them as she could. Boo was a permanent fixture at the ballpark, rarely missing one of their baseball games. Saturday afternoons not spent there were often at her house watching a good old black and white movie or playing Yahtzee and other board games for hours. They loved going to lunch and a movie, but their favorite pastime was playing Putt Putt. She cherished “Date Night” with her boys which meant a delicious meal at favorite restaurant with lots of laughs and new stories to tell.Jo is survived by her daughter, Joanna Bennett and husband, Brendan Bennett, her two grandsons, Charlie and Henry; and her sister, Joy Rose Lahmer who is now proud Mom to Jo’s fur babies, Oscar and Buddy and a nephew, Tony Loicano.She will be laid to rest in the Rose family cemetery in Sandy Hook, KY.