PORT BYRON, Ill. — Sandra Rigdon Strickland, 76, of Port Byron, Ill., formerly of Athens, Ga.,, died Thursday, October 23, 2025 at her home.
She will be cremated. Services will be private. Gibson-Bode Funeral Home, Port Byron, is assisting with arrangements.
Sandra Rigdon Strickland (born Sandra Gail Rigdon) was a loving and devoted mother. She was a rescuer and caretaker of animals of all sorts. Above all, however, she was a child of the living God. His love radiated from within her. That love extended to the downtrodden, the hurting and the lost, whether animal or person. Her compassion and concern for them rivaled only by the ferocity of her sense of justice.
Her passion for animals, whether wild or her beloved cats, Jesse, Ming and Sarah, was only surpassed by her love for her family and her desire for all people to know and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. All else, she expressed, was pointless.
We are comforted beyond words in knowing that she, having passed from this world into eternity, has felt the arms of our Savior. She had heard the Shepherd’s voice. She has felt the fullness of His love. She is forever with Him in His love and light.
A woman of intense faith, she continued sharing the love of Jesus with those around her until the very end. Her love of Jesus and the hope of His gospel burned brightly in her and impacted the lives of many, strengthening the faith of some and helping others discover it. What the Lord achieved through her continues on, even as she is absent from the body.
Now in Heaven, she is reunited with the love of her life, William E. Strickland III, who passed three years and 16 days prior; her mother, Agnes L. Rigdon, and her father, Ward L. Rigdon. She leaves behind a legacy of faith and fullness of love that could only come from God Himself. She will be greatly missed, until the Lord calls us home and reunites us with her.
Always and forever!
