Sandra's Bio

Sandra Thomas will be remembered for her wonderful creativity, her beautiful singing voice and even a cartwheel she did in her second-grade classroom.

The retired Stony Creek Elementary School teacher had a passion for learning and for teaching. She had patience, and always went to the second mile for the child who struggled, whether it was acdemics or behavior. She had a personal faith and true determination to not let breast cancer defeat her in any way.

"She was a valued member of the Stony Creek family and will be missed by those she touched in so many ways," said a retired Bob McDaniel, 58, Noblesville, who came to Noblesville in 1999 as principal at Stony Creek Elementary School.

Sandra K. Thomas, 65, Noblesville, died April 9 in a two-car head-on collision in Lake County, Calif., while visiting family. The accident also injured Thomas' husband, James Gregory "Greg" Thomas, 64' and their daughter, Sarah Noguera, 33, of Ukiah, Calif.; son-in-law, Adonis Noguera, 37; and their two children, Isabel, 5, and Gabriel, 5.

Noguera, who had relocated to California about a year ago, was driving her parents to the Sacramento airport following a 10-day visit. The Thomases were scheduled to fly home April 10. Noguera and her father were flown by air ambulance to Santa Rose Memorial Hospital, where they remain. Isabel was treated at a local hospital for moderate injuries, while Gabriel was flown by air ambulance to Children's Hospital in Oakland, Calif., for serious injuries.

Funeral services for Sandra Thomas will be at noon Saturday at the First Baptist Church of Carmel. "No one from the accident can attend due to health reasons," Noguera wrote in an email from her hospital bed this week. Her father is also still in the hospital, with several injuries and several months of recovery ahead of him. Gabriele was released after surgery but needs full-time care to learn to walk again. "The rest of us are lucky to be alive," Noguera said. The tragic loss of my mother is like a sinking hole in my spirit. . ."