Sandy Lejeune

December 17, 1954 - March 22, 2023

"Little Sandy, to whom every day is playday" So a dear uncle once observed of Sandy Lejeune, who died following an all-too-short fight with cancer. Sandy lived life with a twinkle in his eye and a ready grin, and his many friends will remember time at play with him, often outdoors and just as often with guitars and other musical muses at hand. But there was a deep-hearted work ethic to Sandy as well, and much of his adult life was spent in service to others.

Born in South Pasadena to Patrick and Mary Lejeune, Sandy lived and thrived in the leafy 91030, graduating from South Pasadena High School in 1973, after organizing the school's first volleyball team. He spent an exchange year in Holland, learning Dutch - and actually wearing wooden clogs regularly - before starting his studies at UC Santa Barbara, BA 1977.

Sandy's compassionate curiosity led to employment, volunteerism, and sometimes protest centered on helping others and preserving nature. He built mud and straw low-income housing in Wisconsin, worked with mentally-challenged adults in Minnesota, marched in protest of nuclear power plants and the second Gulf War, and worked with Dolores Mission and LA gang members to start Homeboy Tortillas, hand-pressing the very first tortillas for this local intervention success story. His love of California led him to surf, hike, camp, and live in some of its most beautiful places. In his youth, there were the infamous annual multi-family childhood camping trips at ranches along the coast; for 13 years he farmed and later brought to market the exquisite organic produce of Fairview Gardens in Goleta, where Sandy lived in a bright white yurt. As an avid surfer and local, he donated countless hours and energy to the fight to save that very Goleta coastline from development, as an activist and board member of the Surfrider Foundation. And the last 20 years of his life found him employment with a view as manager of Miradero Ranch in Santa Barbara, living amid horses, avocado trees and long ocean views with his wife Eve, with whom he shared 27 devoted and loving years. Sandy's wry sense of humor and his gratitude for life's every moment was in evidence until the end; friends from the many chapters of his life will remember the sound of his laugh, ready and generous.

He is survived by wife Eve Rinehart, sister, Kate (Mike) Wall '78 and brothers Rick (Jeanne) Lejeune '69 and Michael Lejeune (Jennifer Bedford), along with stepchildren and grandkids, and nephews and nieces.

Michael Lejeune '81