Sandra J. ‘Sandy’ Alexander, Hopkins communications manager who was a former Sun reporter, dies

Sandra J. “Sandy” Alexander, a former Baltimore Sun features reporter who was the internal communications manager at the Johns Hopkins University, died of breast cancer March 5 at her Sudbrook Park home. She was 49.

“Sandy brought so much of her A-game to Hopkins where she was universally loved, which is a rare thing,” said Jill Rosen, a former Sun reporter who is director of media relations at Hopkins.

“She was so dedicated and even though she was competitive, had a certain way about her,” Ms. Rosen said.

Marianne von Nordeck, assistant vice president of strategic communications, was Ms. Alexander’s manager.

“She wrote internal communications for the university and was a gifted writer,” Ms. von Nordeck said.

“She could turn complex information into something any person at Hopkins could understand. She could take a lengthy report and turn it into a 500-word piece,” she said.

“It was a remarkable skill, and not everyone has the patience, care or conscientiousness to do what she did, and that was the approach she took to everything she touched,” she said.

Sandra Jean Alexander, daughter of Edward Alexander and Naomi Alexander, public school educators, was born in New Hartford, New York, and raised in Waterville, New York, near Utica.

She graduated as salutatorian in 1992 from Waterville High, where she had been a member of the debating team and had attended Girls’ State and the Model United Nations.

Ms. Alexander earned a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1996 from Cornell University, where as a member of its speech and debating team, she earned many awards and trophies, family members said.

While at Cornell her freshman year, she met Seth M. Kibel when they both lived in the same dormitory. They fell in love and were married in 1996.

From 1997 to 1999, Ms. Alexander was publications manager for the National Mental Health Association. In 2000, she obtained a master’s degree in journalism from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.

She joined The Sun that year as an editorial assistant working for book editor E. Michael Pakenham, and in 2002, was promoted to reporter and was assigned to the newspaper’s Howard County bureau.

“Sandy climbed the ladder and found her niche in features. She saw the good in people and that’s how she approached her feature writing,” said Stan Rappaport, who was her editor.

“She covered the arts and the Howard County Fair. She was just a nice, good person who had a great smile. She cared about people and it showed in her work.”

Mr. Rappaport, who left The Sun in 2008, praised Ms. Alexander’s reporting.

“She was an excellent feature writer. That was her strength,” he said. “People trusted her because of her thoughtfulness and that’s a real gift.”

He added: “Sandy was the nicest person you could ever meet and she was always so willing to do what needed to be done.”

Ms. Alexander left the newspaper in 2008 and took some time off to raise her two children.

In 2011, she returned to work as director of communications for the Howard County Chamber of Commerce, a position she held until 2014 when she was named internal communications manager.

One of her duties at Hopkins during inclement weather, such as a snowstorm, was to hold an online conference call with staff and faculty.

“This would be at 4 a.m. and Sandy ran the call, and everyone was cranky and groggy,” Ms. Rosen said “She gave them all warm greetings, which was so her. Friendly, giving and warm, that was Sandy, and at the same time, she was competent and diligent.”

“When COVID arrived and with its variants, folks were scared to come back to the office. She was the first one banging on the door to come back and was the cool, calm person in the room,” Ms. von Nordek said. “She helped people feel confident about coming back.

In 2020, Ms. Alexander was diagnosed with the disease that would eventually take her life.

“She fought a courageous battle,” Mr. Rappaport said.

Even as she took medical leaves for treatment, Ms. Alexander always looked forward to returning to her job.

“Sandy made our work family feel like family. She was eager to get back to work with the team, and we were thrilled to have her back,” Ms. von Nordeck said.

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“She was remarkable, and never complained, no matter how badly she felt. She just wanted to be here,” she said. “It was very inspiring to watch.”

Ms. Alexander enjoyed reading and music.

“She loved going to JazzFest each year in New Orleans,” her husband, a professional musician, said.

It was Ms. Alexander’s wish that there be no funeral service. Plans for a celebration of life gathering to be held this summer are incomplete, her husband said.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by a son, William A. Kibel, a freshman at Northeastern University in Boston; a daughter, Josephine A. Kibel, a junior at McDonogh School; her parents, Edward and Naomi Alexander of Port Charlotte, Florida; a brother, James F. Alexander of Brunswick; and a niece.

She is also survived by Willard the Turtle, whose estimated age is 33 and who has been with the couple for 27½ years, her husband said.