Sandra Elizabeth DuBois

Sandra Elizabeth DuBois passed peacefully on May 9, 2025, at the age of 43 surrounded by family and friends. She was born on December 7, 1981, to parents Greg Dickey and Judy Scott.

Sandra’s early childhood was in Spanaway, where she lived with her mom, Judy, and later her little brother, Jonathan. Growing up, Sandra loved to read, bake, knit, and watch Top Gun until the VHS tape wore out. She always talked about having fun playing with Jonathan along with her cousins Erin, Lindsey, and Lessa.

When Sandra was 13, she moved to Olympia to live with her dad, Greg, and Lynn Dickey, her bonus mom.   She was excited to go to the same schools as her sisters attended. She loved going on family trips but most of all she loved the family celebrations and dinners. We all watched her grow into a strong self-confident young woman. She also liked spending time with her Grandma Ellabeth, learning how to sew and knowing more about her father’s family history.

Sandra excelled academically and graduated from Olympia High School in 2000 while also earning an Associates of Arts from South Puget Sound Community College.  She was always on the honor roll, top of her class, making the Dean list in college. Sandra was a good listener and liked to help others solve puzzles or problems they were having. She was great at providing emotional support and giving advice or answers, including hard truths that might be difficult to accept. This led her to pursue a career as a mental health counselor. Sandra graduated from Eastern Washington University in 2002 with a BA in Psychology, and Saint Martin’s University in 2005 with a Masters in Counseling Psychology. At the time, she was the youngest person to be admitted to this master’s program.

Following her schooling, Sandra worked as a counselor for the next 20 years around the Puget Sound area. This included stops at Auburn Youth Resources, Good Samaritan Behavioral Healthcare, Behavioral Health at Mary Bridge, MultiCare Behavioral Health, and Simply Thrive Psychotherapy. She loved working with kids and watching them excel and overcome obstacles. Before her passing, Sandra was in the process of setting up a practice called Stepping Stones located in Olympia with her good friends and colleagues, Caitlin and Kyrie.

In October 2014, she met her future husband, Phil DuBois, who was nice enough to wait for her when she forgot the time of their date and was a half hour late. A fun fact that he was able to get quite a bit of mileage out of over the next decade. Phil also grew up in the Olympia area and Sandra was nice enough to look past that he went to Capital High School. He loved Sandra’s kindness, witty banter, intelligence, and empathy for others. He learned quickly that he could not get in the way of Sandra and her love of popcorn, which would not be shared with him or their dog, Cyrus. They married a few years later in September 2018 and had two children, Jackson and Lilah.

Shortly after Lilah’s birth, Sandra was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer in September 2022 when a tumor grew on her spine and she lost her mobility. When this happened, a new side of Sandra emerged showing her strength and grit as she fought for the next almost-three years. She learned to walk again and went countless rounds against the cancer, stopping it in one place only to fight it in another. During all of this, Sandra was the best mom to Jackson and Lilah. She found strength as they achieved milestones, and she loved watching them grow and seeing their personalities take shape. She would apologize for Jackson’s morning attitude, and Lilah’s stubbornness, which she said most likely came from her (though some family debate the origins of these and look to Phil).

Sandra is survived by her husband, Phil DuBois; children, Jackson and Lilah DuBois; her parents, Greg and Lynn Dickey, and Judy Scott; her siblings, Jonathan Skau (Bethany), Michelle Shepler (Eric), Carrie Myers (Dave), Rebecca Harrah (Blake); her grandmother, Ellabeth Dickey; and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life is scheduled for August 3, 2025, starting at 12:00pm at the Jacob Smith House, 4500 Intelco Loop SE, Lacey, WA 98503. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.