Notes:

Obituary:

Sandra Kay Kinney earned the lines on her weather-worn face, family and friends said, battling alcoholism, riding the rails in West Texas and recovering miraculously, though temporarily, from liver disease.

A mother of two and grandmother of four, Kinney died Sept. 5. She was 56.

Kinney loved to shop, Dumpster-dive and eat vanilla ice cream with brownies. She was often called stubborn by her children and husband, but she always had a smile on her face, they said.

"Sandy had a wonderful smile," said Lloyd Bell, her husband of 18 years.

Kinney was born Jan. 2, 1953, in Seagraves. She was close to her grandfather, who lived on the streets in West Texas and often caught trains from town to town. She eventually followed in his footsteps and rode the rails herself in West Texas.

During her life, Kinney had a variety of jobs, including making parts for Shell Oil Co., cashiering at Wal-Mart and selling sandwiches and sodas from her van at construction sites.

She joined Austin's homeless population in 2000 or 2001, Bell said, living under a bridge near Barton Creek Parkway.

"She liked having friends on the streets," Bell said. "She just liked that lifestyle."

Almost three years ago, Kinney lay in the hospice care of Mary House Catholic Worker of Austin, a home that takes in the homeless, with less than two weeks to live. Eight months later, she was discharged as her deadly case of cirrhosis went into remission.

To those who cared for her during her illness, her recovery was no less than a miracle.

"God looked down on me," she told the American-Statesman in June 2007. "He gave me a second chance at life." After her discharge, Alan Graham, president of Mobile Loaves and Fishes, gave Kinney a trailer where she lived for a while before she moved into public housing in November 2008.

She did not drink for almost two years. But about two months ago, Kinney began to drink again, which eventually led to her liver failure, Bell said.

After a month of suffering, she died quietly at Christopher House of Hospice Austin surrounded by her friends and family, he said.

Kinney's survivors include Bell and daughters Laini Jenkins and Becky Smith.

Erin Mulvaney, American-Statesman staff; emulvaney@statesman.com; 445-3851

(Published in Austin American-Statesman from Sept. 11 to Sept. 16, 2009)

Sandra married William Earl Hollifield 21 Jul 1970, Brownfield, Terry County, Texas, USA; divorced 11 Jun 1980, Seminole, Gaines County, Texas, USA. William was born 25 Feb 1947, Brownfield, Terry County, Texas, USA; died 3 Apr 2012, Slaton, Lubbock County, Texas, USA; was buried 6 Apr 2012, Gaines County Cemetery - Seagraves, Texas, USA. [Group Sheet]

Sandra married Lloyd Taylor Bell 13 Apr 1991, Austin, Travis County, Texas, USA. Lloyd was born 24 Oct 1950, Hidalgo County, Texas, USA; died 20 Jul 2018, Liberty Hill, Williamson County, Texas, USA; was buried 7 Sep 2018, Travis County Wells School Road Cemetery - Manda, Texas, USA. [Group Sheet]

M.A. married M.J. Straughter [Group Sheet]

M.A. married J.L. Jenkins [Group Sheet]

B.L. married T.D. Smith [Group Sheet]

B.L. married S.D. Gates [Group Sheet]