Sandra Eileen Fliniau

“When is the Pig Family leaving?” was the exclamation from the exasperated maid at the now defunct Holidome on west Colfax. We, the so-called Pig Family – the females of the Lepponen clan (plus one) – enjoyed a yearly ladies trip to the metropolis of Denver. The name stuck. Sadly, “Pilot Pig,” aka Sandy Fliniau, escaped the Pig Family pen under the bright light of a full moon on Saturday, May 30, 2026. Once in a Blue Moon, you lose a good one.


Sandy was born to Peter Hans and Eileen (Jones) Lepponen on May 6, 1939, in Dixon Wyoming. Pete moved the family to the greener pastures of North Park in 1941 for a job as a tie inspector and prison camp manager, later a teacher and superintendent of then Jackson County High School. The family settled into a tiny house on Garfield Street in Walden. Sandy’s sister, Linda, was born in January 1946. Eileen became the Jackson County librarian in 1961 and served until 1985.


Sandy was an energetic, outgoing child who exhibited her myriad talents early in life, also earning her nickname “Gabby.” She graduated from Jackson County High School in 1957, the same year marrying her high school sweetheart, T. Charles Fliniau. Their lives were blessed with a son, Kyle, in 1958. Much to Kyle’s chagrin, Holly came along in 1961.


It seemed Sandy was always working, first mowing lawns then a soda jerk at Mankin’s. At just 19, she cooked for the hay crew at the Fliniau ranch. Later she was employed as a switchboard operator for Mt. Bell. “Number please!” When the kids were old enough for school, Sandy became the secretary and librarian at Walden Elementary School.


It’s near impossible to capture Sandy’s exceptional abilities in a few short paragraphs, but here goes.


Painting: Sandy was a painter, not of fine art, mind you, but of bigger bolder pieces such as her parents’ brand-new car when, as a child, she surprised them by painting it bright blue. She painted walls - racing stripes in Kyle’s bedroom and fluorescent pink happy faces in Holly’s. She covered corrugated metal and old screens with her signature pansies and zinnias.


Gardening: A different form of painting emerged when Sandy, a self-taught gardener, transformed her own home and the homes of many others, including the main house at Owl Creek ranch, into living floral masterpieces. What started as a hobby of raising seedlings in her basement became a flourishing business “Flowers by Sandy.” Over the years her garden and the gardens she created were featured in magazines such as “This Old House,” “Backyard Bird Watchers Home Companion,” and “Colorado Country Life.” She and Charlie devoted hundreds of hours to beautifying Hanson Park in Walden. She planted what is now the 30-foot pine in the pocket park north of the bank. She became a certified Colorado nurseryman in 1998 and a Colorado master gardener in 2003.


Cooking, Sewing and Crafts: You name it, Sandy could make it – donuts, cinnamon rolls, pies, caramel corn, and, according to her friend Helen, “the best lemon meringue pie on the planet,” which she made for Helen’s birthday every year. She mastered the craft of cooking spuds and whole turkeys in the coals of a campfire. She made prom and wedding dresses, denim and down jackets, Halloween costumes, stuffed animals, candles, floral displays, floats for the rodeo

parade, and props for her beloved Front Porch Swingers. True or not, she claimed she was asked to stop entering her crafts at the North Park Fair to give others a chance at the blue ribbon.


Writing: Sandy’s prose was beautiful and humorous. Many of you reading this were likely gifted a heartfelt note or text, just when you most needed it. She shared her knowledge of gardening in “All the Dirt,” a periodic piece in the Jackson County Star.


Lover of Animals: As her children grew, Sandy tended a menagerie of creatures – dogs, cats, turtles, frogs, horned toads, lizards, hamsters, canaries, aquarium fish, etc. During Jackson County’s coal mining heyday, she famously climbed to the top of the coal tipple where, under the watchful eye of the mamma owl, she would remove the baby owls from their nest, “store” them in a box in her shower (so the cats couldn’t reach them), and return them to the nest once the daily load of coal had been dumped into the Union Pacific rail cars. Sandy’s garden was designated a Backyard Wildlife Habitat in 1984. Every year, word of the arrival of Rosy finches spread on the internet and birders from all corners flocked to her sunroom to photograph them. Bird seed was one thing that Sandy didn’t mind spending big money on.


Friend: Sandy was everyone’s best friend. So many, young and old, old friend and new friend, held a special place in her heart – the ladies (and one guy) of the Front Porch Swingers, her Friday morning coffee klatch, the North Park Women’s Club, her travel and trash-picker-upper companion Chrissie, her other daughters Deb and Suze, those that crossed the threshold of Kyle’s house and the Man Camp, and on and on. Without being named, you know who you are – soul mates each of you.


Sandy is preceded in death by her parents Peter and Eileen, her husband Charlie, and her son Kyle. Sandy is survived by her daughter Holly and partner Frank Schmitz; her sister Linda (Bob) Littlewood; Linda’s daughter Tia (Todd) Tenbrink; Tia’s children Raquel and Cole; and three dear cats Hope, Camo, and Gus. A celebration of Sandy’s life will be held at Kyle’s house (445 Garfield Street in Walden) on Saturday, August 1, at 11:00. Come prepared to sing along with the Front Porch Swingers and share carrot cake and your favorite memories. If so compelled, please donate to the charity of your choice or one of Sandy’s favorite organizations the North Park Medical Clinic or the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado.