Obituary: Sandra R. Brannon

Sandra R. Brannon, former director of patient care services at Baylor Medical Center in Grapevine and wife of Baptist denominational leader Thomas J. Brannon, died Dec. 1 in a Columbia, S.C., hospital after a lengthy illness. She was 80.

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Sandra R. Brannon, former director of patient care services at Baylor Medical Center in Grapevine and wife of Baptist denominational leader Thomas J. Brannon, died Dec. 1 in a Columbia, S.C., hospital after a lengthy illness. She was 80. She was born March 9, 1940, in Spartanburg, S.C., to Barney and Myrtle Raines, and she grew up in the nearby Campobello area. She graduated from Spartanburg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1961, and she later earned the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and Masters in Nursing degree from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. She served many years as nurse and nursing administrator at medical centers in South Carolina, North Carolina and Texas. For 11 years she directed patient care services at Baylor Medical Center in Grapevine, a 101-bed acute care general hospital. As a senior manager at the hospital, she helped develop many advances, such as the design of a new hospital and development of a new intensive care unit. When she retired in 1997, she had served four years with the Texoma Health Care System, based in Denison. As director of education and advisor to the CEO, she played a key role in expanding that system to care for more patients. She received many awards for her nursing work, including being named as one of the “Great 100 Nurses” in Texas in 1992. She was a member of Sigma Theta Tau National Organization of Nurse Executives. Most recently, she and her husband lived at Laurel Crest Retirement Community in West Columbia. She was preceded in death by a brother, Gerald. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Tom, former director of public relations for the Baptist Convention of South Carolina and the Baptist General Convention of Texas; and by four brothers and their wives—Randall and Lynn Raines of Inman, S.C.; Ted and Jackie Raines of Campobello, S.C.; Edward and Judy Raines of Duncan, S.C.; and Dean and Donna Raines of West Columbia, S.C. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. EST Sunday, Dec. 6, at St. Andrews Baptist Church in Columbia, which will be carried live online at facebook.com/SABCColumbia.


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