Sandra Mae Bicker

Sandra “Sandy” Mae DiPentino Bicker (née Schreiber), aged 85, passed away on May 10, 2025, at home, surrounded by her loved ones after a prolonged battle with cancer.

The following is an adorable obituary dictated by Sandy, sprinkled with details she wanted to share.

She was born in LaMars, Iowa on April 2, 1940, to Mildred and George Schreiber, and lived in Chicago through her school years before graduating from Schurz High School in 1958.

She was married to Pat DiPentino in Chicago, in 1959, with whom she had 4 children. She later remarried, in 1981, to Richard Bicker, a farmer in Freeport, Illinois. She moved to Livingston, Montana in 2002 to be closer to her children and grandchildren.

Sandy worked in a variety of industries over the course of her life. She worked as a Social Services Director at an adult day care facility (for which she wrote state policy and grants for the State of Illinois), she then worked in real estate, owned Mama’s Restaurant in Broomfield, Colorado (which was famous for its $5 steaks), and retired after working as a Group Cruise Director for her daughter’s travel agency. But of all her careers, owning her own bookstore, The Bookend, in Freeport, Illinois was her favorite.

A dynamic woman, Sandy had a variety of interests and hobbies. She loved to play the slot machines, family poker games around her kitchen table and was known to be a shark at Pinochle. She was an avid reader and loved to crochet. She also spent countless hours cooking and baking, working with her house plants, gardening and visiting second-hand stores and yard sales.

As adventurous as she was dynamic, Sandy loved new experiences and learning her whole life. She took pleasure in trying new foods like frog, alligator and rattlesnake meat. And as a traveler, some of her favorite locations to visit included the island of Capri, Florence, Italy and Hawaii. She especially enjoyed touring the country with her partner on the back of a Honda Gold Wing motorcycle for the better part of a decade.

Sandy had many loves and passions. Her favorite color was yellow and she loved fresh-cut flowers. She enjoyed nothing more than telling inappropriate stories and she loved sitting outside in the afternoon to get “15 minutes of sunshine” on her face every day. She would decorate like crazy for Halloween every year and she even dressed up for it well into her 70s. Of all the holidays, she lived for post-Thanksgiving cookie baking days the most. Food was her love language.

She enjoyed fishing and floating the Yellowstone River and really loved when family members gathered in her garage after a hunt to butcher and package their harvests for the following year.

Sandy’s love of music spanned many genres, ranging from Big Band to Jazz to Soul. Her favorite musical artists were Louis Prima, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bonnie Raitt, and Aerosmith. You could frequently find her taking videos of herself singing and dancing and posting them for her friends and family to enjoy.

She had a reputation for always knowing what her neighbors were up to, feeding her friends and family “Sandified” dishes that had secret ingredients in them (beets in a cake) and for making root beer floats for breakfast when her grandchildren came for sleepovers. Her signature dish was the “Sandy Sunday Special” (roast beef, mashed potatoes, egg noodles, corn and gravy) and her homemade fudge became a family holiday staple. She decided, however, if she were ever stranded on an island she would want potatoes, dark chocolate and hot fudge sundaes to take with her.

Finally, Sandy loved her adopted dog, Sophia, who loved her back and could always be found at her side. She was constantly visited by her daughter’s cat, Piccolo, who she felt was a pain in the a**.

A big help toward making the end of her life transition easier was having her death doula, Thom Nezbeda, with her, who she taught how to play Pinochle and how to cook the perfect dish of tapioca.

Sandy is survived by her sister, Marsha Aiken of Dewitt Iowa, her four children: Dia (Mickey) Ferguson, Pat (Lexi) DiPentino, Phil (Amy) DiPentino, and Dani DiPentino all of Livingston, Montana; eleven grandchildren: Bailey Ferguson, Aubrey (Chance) Kent, Patrick DiPentino, Gabriella DiPentino, Phillip (Destiny) DiPentino, Olivia DiPentino, Nick (Marisa) DiPentino, Taylor (Drew) Franz, Riley (Mandy) Hopkins, Katie Hopkins, Maddie Hopkins, 8 great-grandchildren, and various nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by 2 grandsons, Steven Crowe and James Vester and 3 brothers.

Sandy wants you all to know she had a good, solid life.

An open house is scheduled from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 17th, 2025, at 119 S. Yellowstone Street. Friends and family are welcome to attend and celebrate Sandy’s sassy life.

The family of Sandy Bicker would like to thank the staff of Livingston Home Health and Hospice Care, and her death doula, Thom Nezbeda, for the care and love they showed our Mom at the end of her life. We will miss her endlessly.

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Franzen-Davis Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted in the care of Sandra and her family.