Obituary

Sandy, a longtime Davis resident, passed away peacefully at the age of 92 on Sept. 28, 2025 at Sutter Davis Hospital after complications from heart disease.

She is survived by her children Michael, David, Daniel (Lupita Ochoa) and Deborah (Scott Speh); grandchildren Irene Sokolow-Ochoa and Edward Sokolow-Ochoa; sister June Shifrin; sister-in-law Shirley Segal; cousins Joyce Bell-Albert, Eileen Landau and Audrey Bashkin; and many other cherished relatives.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years; Alvin; parents Harry and Ida Dolgonos; and brothers-in-law Philip Shifrin and Irwin Segal.

Sandy was born in Chicago on July 12, 1933, and grew up in the city’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. Her father was a small businessman and her mother was honored as a Liberty Bond queen in World War I.

After a semester at Wright Junior College, Sandy transferred to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. It was there in the fall of 1952 where she met her future husband, Al, at a Sunday evening “Corn Beef Capers” event at the U of I Hillel. Both were journalism students and staff members of the renowned student newspaper, The Daily Illini.

Sandy and Al were married in June 1955, shortly after she received her bachelor’s degree in journalism. They continued to live in Champaign-Urbana for several years, while Al worked on advanced degrees in political science. In 1961, they moved to Kalamazoo and a year later to East Lansing, both in Michigan. Along the way they had three boys — Michael, David and Daniel, born respectively in Urbana, Kalamazoo and Lansing.

In 1965, they moved to Davis, where Al was appointed assistant professor in political science at UC Davis. Their fourth child, Deborah, was born at Woodland Memorial Hospital. Sandy and Al were longtime members of Congregation Bet Haverim in Davis, becoming active in the Davis Jewish community not long after they arrived.

Over several decades in Davis and Sacramento, Sandy engaged in a varied work and volunteer career. In the late 1960s and ’70s, she worked as a part-time reporter for the Sacramento Bee, covering Davis news, and later wrote a column for The Davis Enterprise on the Explorit Science Center.

Legal work was a longtime interest and in the 1990s she earned a paralegal certificate from National University. Paralegal positions with the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office and the Sacramento County’s Child Protective Services Office followed. In later years, she served as a volunteer for more than 10 years with the Davis Police Department, responsible for maintaining the department’s newspaper archives.

Sandy entered memory care at the University Retirement Community in 2018 and received excellent care from the certified nursing assistants and resident activity leaders. Her favorite activities included singing, puzzles, reading The Davis Enterprise (including the obit section), Sabbath services, Sunday Zoom meetings with family, touring the flowers on URC’s grounds with son Michael, and cookie desserts – especially Oreos.

Sandy will be remembered as a loving mother, a caring neighbor, an avid reader of mystery novels and a lifelong Cubs fan.

A graveside funeral will begin at the Davis Cemetery in the Jewish section at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 19. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the UC Davis Health Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Cohen Hillel at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, or a charity of the donor’s choice in memory of Sandra E. Sokolow.