Roll Call Tribute

Sandra Sue "San" Lorenz 

May 17, 1944 - September 18, 2023 

Sandra (San) Sue Sayre Lorenz was born on May 17, 1944, in Kansas City, Missouri. She was adopted as a toddler by her maternal aunt, Eunice Brewster. Eunice, a single mother, reared Sandra mostly in San Antonio, Texas, although she did complete high school in Jasper, Texas. Sandra was an avid swimmer, and she excelled in poise and etiquette classes. At the University Mary Hardin Baylor there were a large number of Sandra’s on her floor, so they divvied up variations and assigned her what would become her life-long moniker: San. While there she became a synchronized swimmer and excelled in drama club, ultimately setting her sights on Broadway. That was until Weldon Lorenz spotted her on campus and was immediately smitten. It was mere curiosity-at-first-sight for San, yet after some convincing she agreed to a date. Broadway quickly took a back seat, and they were married at Church of the Visitation in Westphalia, Texas on June 11, 1966, her mother Eunice loudly wailing her disapproval for the entirety of the mass.

Weldon and San were married only a couple of months before Weldon joined the US Army and deployed to Italy to play basketball for the Army team. San, newly pregnant with their first child, Devin, was forced to wait until six weeks postpartum before they could join Weldon in Italy. On that flight, San, never a basketball aficionado, sat next to Lou Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), and upon landing, raved to a dumbfounded Weldon about the nice man she sat next to on the flight. “And boy was he tall!”

After serving three years in Italy, they returned to the US where San completed her bachelor’s degree at UMHB and began teaching middle school English and PE in Killeen, Texas. Their next child, Regina, was born a couple of years later. Soon, Weldon was offered an elementary teacher/principal position in Lott, Texas, so the family moved to nearby Westphalia, and San took a new position as an English and Theatre teacher at Rosebud-Lott High School.

San worked doggedly to establish a successful fine arts program at R-LHS, complete with top notch UIL Forensics teams and award-winning One Act Plays. During that time, she had their third child, Krista, and they moved to Lott and welcomed their fourth child, Ryan, with San never taking more than a day or two of maternity leave. Thus began an illustrious career of 40+ years of not only teaching but coaching and directing thousands of high school students across Central Texas. She also held leadership roles in the Texas Educational Theatre Association (TETA) and was referred to as “The Goddess” by fellow directors across the state. And during the summers, San taught hundreds of children and adults how to swim in their home pool.

Over time, she transitioned from Rosebud-Lott ISD to numerous other school districts, including Cameron ISD and Belton ISD. She earned an MEd in Educational Leadership from Texas A&M University and spent some of those years as a high school assistant principal and principal. She worked as an adjunct professor in the Speech department at UMHB, appeared in a short film, a country music video, and for many years she directed community theatre in Temple, and Llano, Texas.

San is survived by her husband of 57 years, Weldon Lorenz of Johnson City, their four children; Devin and David Leslie of Roanoke; Gina and David Dyess of Wylie; Krista and Shawn O’Banon of Johnson City; and Ryan Lorenz of Victoria; grandchildren; Sutton and Andrew Stevens of Fort Worth, Reagan and Nathan Anthony of Haslet, Keaton and Grant Gwin of Roanoke, Hayden Jones of Fort Worth, Landon Jones of College Station, Peyton Jones of Roanoke, Bailey Martin of Corpus Christi, Ashlyn Martin of Corpus Christi, Daylee and Thomas Rodgers of Gilmer, Dacie Dyess of Tyler, Dayden Dyess of Wylie, and Cade O’Banon of Johnson City; great-grandchildren; Briggs, Watts and Hutch Stevens of Fort Worth, Madden and Holden Anthony of Haslet, Gray Gwin of Roanoke, and Thatcher Rodgers of Gilmer. San was preceded in death by her mother, Eunice Brewster of Lott, and her sister, Gladys Shadden of Jasper.

Our heartfelt thanks goes out to LBJ Medical Center in Johnson City and New Century Hospice. Each of you loved and cared for her so very well.

A mass will be held at Church of the Visitation in Westphalia on Saturday, September 23rd, 2023, at 10 a.m. The family will be accepting visitors one hour prior to the service. Following the service will be a burial at St. Mary’s Cemetery.

Hewett-Arney Funeral Home of Temple is entrusted with these arrangements.