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Sept. 27, 1954–May 15, 2018
Major Sandra Dossey, 63, was promoted to Glory May 15.
Born Sandra Lee Birtchet Sept. 27, 1954, in Salinas, California, Sandy, as she was known, was the oldest of three children. As a young girl, she moved with her family many times to different military housing areas and ultimately ended up in San Diego, where she graduated from Hover High School.
Sandy met The Salvation Army at the invitation of a neighbor who invited her to be a Sunbeam in the Army’s troop program for young girls. All three of the Birtchet children soon attended the San Diego Temple Corps. The corps officer knew the whole family and ministered to their needs, even helping to confront Sandy’s father’s problem with alcohol.
In 1976, Sandy entered the School for Officers Training and was commissioned an officer in The Salvation Army with the Joyful Evangelist Session in 1979. Days later, she married then Lt. Michael Dossey. The couple had two sons, Sean in 1980 and Stephen in 1982.
The Dosseys ministered in 16 appointments throughout the Western Territory and beyond, from Arizona to New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia, and eventually back to California.
She is survived by her husband, Major Michael Dossey and sons, Sean and Stephen (Kristina).
A celebration of life service was held May 19 at the Crestmont Campus in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, with Major Jack Phillips officiating.
