Sandra Sue Perusich was born May 19, 1946 to Elmer and Irene (Larson) Towsley in Kansas City, Missouri. She was the “middle” child of five children. She attended William Chrisman High School in Independence, Missouri. She married Kenneth McPherson in 1964. Two children, Kenny and Kevin were born to this union. In 1967 Sandy married Mike Perusich. Kenny and Kevin welcomed brother Michael and sister Sheryl in the years that followed.
Sandy was a stay-at-home mom, but she dabbled in many entrepreneurial careers. She was a Tupperware dealer for several years. She was also a Home Interiors distributor. Her sisters and mom always helped support her endeavors by having parties for her. Sandy did seasonal retail working at K-Mart to make Christmas easier for a family of six. When her children got a little older, she went to real estate training certification and worked for Faye Buck Realty in Blue Springs in the late 1970’s. Sandy liked different ventures. After selling real estate, she became a Creative Circle distributor. Her children can attest to making different “sewing products” as mom broadened their horizons. Her next career interest took her into plumbing, heating and cooling, where she was a top=notch administrative assistant in organizing all the crews and work schedules. Sandy took a year off to attend two semesters at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg taking classes in general studies. Sandy finally found the job she had always been looking for, and didn’t even know it. She began working for the Kansas City Chapter of the American Red Cross. She worked in the field on disaster relief missions all across the United States. As she slowed down, she came of of the field, and began teaching in the classroom disaster relief procedures to volunteers in the program. She organized the volunteers and sent them out of disaster missions. She worked for the American Red Cross in Kansas City office for twenty years, until she retired in 2017.
Sandy was interested in genealogy and studied the Towsley family history. This brought all the sisters together to visit cemeteries all over Missouri, South Dakota, and Minnesota. She taught us many things about our family during that time. She enjoyed family dinners, playing cards, and vacations.
Every garage sale sign was meant for Sandy and her sister Sharon. Sandy studied antiques and knew when she was getting a bargain. She also loved the auction barns! She spent many nights at the Grain Valley auction house purchasing treasurers for her next successful garage sale. When the sisters would be driving, Sandy pretended to cry when Sylvia would not acknowledge her, “Yard Sale!” exclamations, as we drove past with Sandy’s head craned in the direction of the yard sale sign.
Sandy has been a world traveler. Through the years of her son Ken’s military career, she enjoyed trips to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Korea. She was fascinated by the places she had been.
In passing, Sandy meets her parents, daughter Sheryl White, her sisters and brothers-in-law Shelby and Bob Ewens, Sharon and Norman Dibben, nieces Robin Gilbert and Rochelle Ewens, and her dear friend Patricia (Pat).
Sandy is survived by her sons Ken McPherson (Staci) of Boyd, TX; Kevin McPherson (Armando) of Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Michael Perusich (Robin) of Sibley, MO; Grandsons Connor and Cody McPherson, and James and Michael Perusich; Brother Stanley Towsley (Cindy) of Crashy, TX; Sister Sylvia Eldridge of Butler, MO; many nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and nephews; her Red Cross Family; and many friends.