Obituary: Champion of Bream Bay Sandra Bogart dies

MUCH LOVED: Sandra Bogart

Much-loved Waipu identity and Northern Advocate columnist Sandra Bogart has died.

A long-standing champion of the Bream Bay community, Sandra reported on local events and people through this page from January 2005 until she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in April this year.

The writer, entertainer, belly dancer and ukulele player was raised in Calexico, a town on the California-Mexico border, but adopted Waipu as her home.

As well as her weekly Bream Bay Community Spirit page, she wrote a regular column called Northlanders at Play, celebrating locals' pastimes and sporting achievements. Her other writing work included a role with the NZ Fire Service.

Those roles meant there were few people in Bream Bay she had not met or interviewed. She was known for her love of entertaining - her home saw a steady stream of guests from many corners of the world - as well as her sense of fun, generosity and support for others going through tough times.

She taught belly dancing and played a key part in her local ukulele orchestra.

News of her death on Tuesday evening was announced by long-time friend Sheryl Mai, Mayor of Whangarei, with the words: "It is with deep sorrow that I share the sad news that our beloved Sandra K Bogart died early this evening. A tenacious, beautiful woman who will be mourned and missed by myriads."

Messages flooded her Facebook page yesterday from friends in New Zealand, her old schoolmates in Calexico, and around the world. They included tributes from women who said Sandra had changed their lives through belly dancing and friends remembering her "zany, irresistible spark".

Sandra was open about her illness from the outset. The shock diagnosis came in April after she went to her GP with a sore back. Intensive chemotherapy was successful at first and she was just a week away from a stem cell transplant when she came out of remission early this month.

Her funeral will be held at the Celtic Barn, St Mary's Rd, Waipu, at 2pm on Saturday. She asked for donations to Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand instead of flowers.

Next Thursday's Bream Bay page will be dedicated to Sandra.