Fresno Obituary

Sandra Maye Tompkins

December 18, 1947 - July 4, 2024

Sandi Tompkins, a celebrated former Fresno Bee reporter, died July 4 at her home near Tyler, TX. She was born to Carmine and Nancy Botti in the Scots-Italian immigrant community of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. She graduated in 1965 from Beaver Falls, PA, High School, and had dreams of becoming a doctor. She unexpectedly won the journalism award in her senior year, and she decided to become a newspaper reporter instead. Her first job was at The New London Day in Connecticut, and her first big assignment was interviewing actor Paul Newman, who lived in that area.

She moved west in the 1960s, taking writing jobs at the San Rafael Independent Journal and the Bank of California in San Francisco. Her free spirit connected with the hippie culture of the day but led to painful personal struggles. When she was offered a job as a feature writer at The Fresno Bee, Sandi jumped at the opportunity.

It was there that she met her future husband, Scott. The two of them began attending St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Fresno, and it was there on June 2, 1974, they both received Christ. That decision led to dramatic changes in their lifestyle, new vision for their work, and on May 3, 1975, led to their marriage.

Sandi’s writing soared to new heights during this time. She was honored by the Associated Press as the top feature writer in California for a piece she wrote about teen suicide. She was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for a series she wrote about the dangers of the DPT vaccine. Her biggest story came in 1976, when three kidnappers seized a school bus full of kids in nearby Chowchilla, CA, then buried them in an old moving van. She and her co-worker Gail Miller Marshall interviewed the victims’ families, and after the kids escaped, they wrote a best-selling book titled Kidnapped at Chowchilla. Sandi and Gail were interviewed on The 700 Club Christian TV program, and in 1981 Sandi went into San Quentin Prison to interview two of the kidnappers. That sparked a friendship with the men that led her and the Tompkins family to visit them many times in prison.

Sandi said one of her greatest joys was becoming a mom and raising their daughters Bonnie and Melody. As with all things Sandi did, she threw herself into becoming the best mom. When Bonnie got involved with Fresno Children’s Theater and Roger Rocka’s Junior Company, and Melody took gymnastics and horseback riding lessons, mom was their biggest cheerleader. The Tompkins house on Yale Avenue soon became home to cats, rabbits, hamsters, and fish, and welcomed countless guests.

Scott and Sandi joined Valley Christian Center in 1976, and that connection led them to a variety of ministries together including support for refugees, in-home discipleship of 17 young people, leadership of a large home fellowship, and public speaking. In 1989, God led them to sell their Fresno home and enroll in a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) discipleship School in Kona, Hawaii, followed by a ministry trip to China and The Philippines. When they returned to Kona, Scott and Sandi resigned from their Fresno Bee jobs and joined YWAM.

In Kona, Sandi developed a new teaching gift, leading writers groups at the campus and teaching in various writing schools. Sandi also became known as a superb hostess as she and Scott welcomed hundreds of local and international visitors into their home. Sandi said her greatest assignment in YWAM was leading a team of editors in England that created teaching content for The Christian Growth Study Bible. The project took three years to complete.

Family was a driving force in Sandi’s life, and she was delighted when Bonnie married Preston Crawford and Melody married Paul Fillmore. Perhaps the greatest joy of her life arrived when Paul and Melody made her a Grandma. She loved spending time with Kaeden (17), Elijah (15), and Arianna (12), and their summer and holiday visits were filled with baking, crafts, games and movies.

In 2011, Scott and Sandi moved to Hideaway, Texas, where she had been teaching for 15 years in the School of Writing. During her 34 years in YWAM, she taught and mentored more than 500 students in Hawaii, England, Montana, and Texas. During that same period, she led weekly writers groups, helping hundreds more to get edited and published. She never charged for her work with the writers groups. She saw it as a God-given opportunity to invest in the lives of new or unpublished writers.

Memorial Services were held at Community Christian Fellowship in Lindale, TX on July 20, 2024. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to Hospice of East Texas.