October 17, 2019
A graveside funeral service will be held next Thursday (October 24) for well-known Nanango businesswoman Sandy Towell who died aged 67 on Tuesday.
Sharyn Gail (Sandy) Towell was born in Mt Morgan.
She began her working life as a stenographer.
However, she developed an interest in education and went back to school to complete Year 12. She then worked in schools with socially and emotionally disadvantaged students, and later with parent communities.
Based in Brisbane, and then the Sunshine Coast, she looked after about 82 schools.
She then took over as CEO of the National Canteen Association, a job which continued after she moved to Nanango in 2005.
In 2007, along with husband Ross, Sandy took over publication of The Country Focus newspaper and opened FLEXsys Print and Promotions.
The Country Focus ceased publication in December 2015.
Sandy also set up Boots n’ Bulldust, which started as a music festival but developed into a social welfare network supporting worthwhile projects in the Nanango area, including Seeds of Hope.
She was also a driving force behind the Nanango Arts Network Alliance and assisted other local projects including charity shops in Kingaroy and Nanango, Pathway 2 Hope, the Makers, Bakers and Growers Market; and Nanango’s annual “Christmas With Friends” free community lunch.
Sandy had an abiding interest in helping people, particularly those with mental health issues or who were disadvantaged through a lack of education.
For many years, she nurtured a dream to create a place of hope and healing in the local community for people living with a mental illness or depression but sadly the proposal did not come to fruition.
Her interest in the local area extended to its governance.
Sandy stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for Division 1 at the 2012 and 2016 South Burnett Regional Council elections and secured almost a third of the vote on both occasions.
Ross and Sandy raised six children, four of their own as well as two who were adopted as teenagers.
She passed away peacefully, surrounded by family.
The funeral service will be held from 10:30am at the Nanango Lawn Cemetery, Appin Street, Nanango.
The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations to Boots n’ Bulldust be considered. Envelopes will be provided at the service.
