Sandra E. Beebe, a great high school English teacher that helped ol' Boomer, Robert A. Hoff, a lot.


Or as stated by an online art gallery, Invaluable, LLC. : "Sandra E. Beebe, American retired language educator, artist, writer. Named one of the Top Ten Watercolorists The Artists Magazine, 1994; recipient Best Watercolors award Rockport Press, 1995; chosen for Design Poster selection, 1995, 97. Beebe, Sandra E. was born on November 10, 1934 in March Air Force Base, California. Daughter of Eugene H. and Margaret (Fox) B. Education Bachelor of Arts in English and Speech, University of California at Los Angeles, 1956; Master of Arts in Secondary Education, California State University, Long Beach, 1957. Teacher English, Garden Grove (California) High School, 1957-1993, attendance supervisor, 1976-1983, retired, 1993. Teacher watercolor courses, Asilomar, California, 1997. Jury chairman N.W.S., 1997. Contributor articles to English Journal, chapters to books. Watercolor artist. Exhibitions include American Welding Society, NWS, Oklahoma Watercolor Society, Watercolor West, Midwest Watercolor Society, Butler Institute American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, Kings Art Center, Audubon Artists New York. Cover artist Exploring Painting, 1990, title page Understanding Watercolor, American Artist, 1991."

Sadly, this article from the Orange County Register was brought to my attention in July of 2018.

Beebe-Thompson, Sandra E. of Long Beach, passed peacefully in her sleep at home on Sunday, December 10, 2017.
Miss Beebe, revered English teacher of several generations of Garden Grove High School students. Renowned artist, Life Member of the American Watercolor Society.
Born November 10, 1934 at March Field, CA, daughter of (then 1st Lt. USAAC) Eugene Beebe and Margaret Fox Beebe.
A lifelong resident of Long Beach, Sandra came here with her mother in 1943 when her father (by then Col., USAAF and later Brig. Gen., USAF) led his command, the 308th Bomber Group, to war in Central China. In 1947, her father retired from the Air Force and her parents bought the house on Mira Mar in Belmont Heights.
She attended St. Matthew's Grammar School, starting 4th grade in the fall of 1943 and graduated from St. Anthony's High School in 1952. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in English in January 1956, where she was a member of the sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and then received an MA in English and a teaching credential from Cal State, Long Beach in 1957. She started her 37-year teaching career at Garden Grove High School that fall.
Sandra began serious painting in the early 1970s and, by the early 1980s, she had become a well-known watercolor artist exhibiting her paintings at major art shows across the country. She had the pleasure of working with and learning from Frank Webb, Robert Wood, and Gerald Bromer among other prominent water-colorists. In 1994, she was inducted into the American Watercolor Society at its annual exhibition in New York.
In the summer of 1994, she married Donald Thompson, an old friend whom she'd known since they first met as young children at St. Matthew's. She moved with him to Marina Pacifica and then, in 2001 and after her mother had died, she and he moved back into the Mira Mar house.
Funeral service will be held at 11 AM, Thursday, 12/28/17, at St. Bartholomew's Catholic Church, Long Beach, CA, followed by interment at All Souls Cemetery.

Published in Orange County Register from Dec. 22 to Dec. 24, 2017