Sandra (Sandy) Szelag
Rev. Dr. Sandra Szelag
October 14, 1941 - January 11, 2023
Sandra (Sandy) was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She received her undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University in English and Speech. Afterwards, she taught Junior High and High School. She then worked for the State of Illinois for the gifted program, developing curriculum and teacher training focused on creativity in the classroom. Briefly, she studied film making at Columbia College in Chicago and Columbia University in New York City.
In the early seventies, she pursued her second career of ministry. She earned an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Soon after, she earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Meadville Lombard Theological School, a Unitarian Universalist Seminary and one of the cluster seminaries of the University of Chicago. She was awarded a history prize for her dissertation on Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a struggle for women's rights in the 19th century. She was also the first recipient of the John Burton Wolf Award for Excellence in Preaching.
After her ordination in 1977, she moved to Tucson. She set up a private practice in Pastoral Counseling. She was also busy offering a wide variety of workshops and ministering in Las Vegas and Tucson, performing weddings and memorials. In her retirement, she served as a docent at the University of Arizona Poetry Center. Her poems have received awards from the Arizona Poetry Society, Sanscript Literary Magazine and have appeared in Spiral Orb, Spilled by Dry River Poets, and Serving House Journal.
Sandra lived with her spouse of 45 years, Carol Kells, and has one son, three stepchildren, and eleven grandchildren. She enjoyed everything about the desert she called home, long hikes and taking in all the beauty and nature it had to offer and doing agility training with her dog, Langston. A lot of Sandra's inspiration came from her love of family, friends, and the Tucson desert.
Lastly, Sandra had a lifelong passion for poetry, writing, and social activism. It was an integral part of who she was. She was very active in the Gay community. Why? It was personal, it was important, and it was crucial. This community was a support for her as well as she was a support for them. With her diverse background in education, pastoral care, and ministry, it was an ideal match. This community was her family as well as being an inspiration for their growth and commitment to equality.