Sandra "Sandy" G. Dalton of Fairlawn, Virginia, course management and outreach secretary in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, died unexpectedly on Friday, April 22. She was 58 years old.

Dalton was a Virginia Tech employee for 38 years, supporting the academic mission of the industrial and systems engineering department by maintaining databases and information on engineering courses, coordinating classroom schedules and ordering textbooks, providing technical typing support and serving as conference manager for professional conferences.

"Sandy was an instrumental part of our staff and brought a sense of humor to her job every day," said Eileen Van Aken, a professor and associate head of the department. "As her supervisor, I worked closely with Sandy for the past ten years. She worked diligently to ensure all of our courses were properly scheduled and that our faculty had what they needed when the semester started. I will miss seeing her smile every day."

Dalton began at the university in 1977 in a temporary position in the department of statistics. Later that year she was hired full-time as an information processing specialist in the mechanical engineering department.

Dalton left Virginia Tech briefly in 1984 and served as a stenographer with Harris Energy and Environmental Center at Carolina Power and Light Company in New Hill, North Carolina.

She returned to the Virginia Tech campus in 1985 as a clerk stenographer for the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps department. Later in 1985, she began working in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department as a secretary.

Dalton attended New River Community College and completed two quarters of secretarial science. She was a member of Fairlawn Church of God.

Dalton is survived by her daughter, Amanda Lea Dalton of Fairlawn, Virginia; parents, Robert M. And Faye H. Hubbard of Radford, Virginia; granddaughter, Cadence Rose Stump; stepdaughters, Erine Cressell of Dublin, Virginia, and Bethany W. Pennington of Narrows, Virginia; special friend, Crystal Jeuck of Parrott, Virginia; and many other nieces, nephews, and cousins.

The family will receive friends Tuesday, April 26, from 5-7 p.m. at Mullins Funeral Home & Crematory, Radford, Virginia.  Services will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, at the funeral home with the Rev. Marcus Harrison officiating. Interment will follow in Highland Memory Gardens in Dublin, Virginia. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Cadence Stump College of America Fund, c/o Stefel Nicolaus & Co., 220 W. Main St., Radford, Virginia, 24141 or to the Dalton Family Fund, c/o National Bank of Blacksburg, 100 S. Main Street, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060.

For more information, please see the Mullins Funeral Home & Crematory website.

Those in the university community who may wish assistance or desire counseling support may contact:

Referrals to a campus cleric may be done through the Dean of Students Office at (540) 231-3787.

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