Funeral services for Bill Sand, 105 year old Buffalo resident who passed away Friday at the Johnson County Health Care Center, will be held Thursday, August 3rd, at 10:00 a.m. from the Harness Funeral Home in Buffalo with Reverend Tom Saur officiating. Visitation will be on Wednesday from 3:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and on Thursday from 8:00 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. Interment will be in Willow Grove Cemetery with the American Legion and VFW in charge of military graveside rites. Donations in Mr. Sand’s memory may be made to the Buffalo Senior Center in care of the Harness Funeral Home at 351 N. Adams in Buffalo. Online condolences may be made at www.harnessfuneralhome.com
William Arthur Sand was born on April 23, 1912 in Geneseo, Illinois to William and Ada Sand the second oldest of six children. In 1926 at the age of 14 he moved with his family to the West. Bill drove a brand new Model A Ford Coupe and his father drove a 1924 Dodge Touring car. They settled in Buffalo where Bill graduated from Johnson County High School with the class of 1932. In the spring of 1941 he volunteered for the draft and served during WWII with the 115th Cavalry which was changed to the 126th Reconnaisance and he patrolled the west coast for a couple years. His outfit eventually became a Signal Corp and Bill transferred to a Quartermaster Truck company and after a 31 day ocean voyage he landed in the Philippines where he hauled supplies until the end of the war. Bill retuned to Buffalo after the service and was married in 1947 in Buffalo to Thelma Woolsey, a grade school teacher. Bill worked at various jobs after the war until hiring on with the Wyoming Highway Department in 1957 where he was a lab technician. They transferred to Torrington in 1969 for three years and in 1979 they transferred to Sundance where he retired and the couple moved back to Buffalo. Thelma passed away in November of 2011 after 64 years of marriage and Bill continued living in Buffalo until his death.
During his youth Bill was an athlete and played basketball for 17 years as well as doing the field events in track where he won five gold medals. As an adult he played city league baseball for many years. Bill made clocks and furniture and was a collector of arrowheads and Indian Relics. He had a barbed wire collection from all over the state and had over 100 different kinds.
He is survived by two sons, Bill Sand Jr. and Rodney Sand both of Buffalo; one brother Laurel of Alabama; one grandson Chris Sand of Mississippi and two great-granddaughters. He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, Ethel Fairlie and Margaret Goryl and two brothers, Arlyn and Bob.
