Sandra Kutsch Mekis had traveled with her husband to so many places that her family has trouble naming them all.

"I can't even remember how many places she's been," said her daughter, Barbara Jo Dunn, of Sarver. "They went on a Canada-to-Alaska cruise, they went to Hawaii I don't know how many times . . . Italy, Germany, France. You name it, I think they've been there."

To help her remember her travels, Mrs. Mekis would mark a special map that was prominently displayed in her home with a unique tack for each place she visited.

"It's pretty much full," Ms. Dunn said of the map.

Mrs. Mekis, of the Fenelton section of Clearfield, died last Thursday at home from pancreatic cancer. She was 70.

Born June 7, 1938, in Butler, she was a daughter of Arthur and Emogene Swisher Hillman.

Mrs. Mekis was a secretary for 15 years for Thomas Marine Expediting, an oil barge company in Butler. She was also a legal secretary for attorneys Dick Goldinger and Pete Schaffer, now a Butler County judge, from 1988 to 1994.

Mrs. Mekis was involved in the lives of family members, taking special interest in the things that interested them. She was marching director for the Catholic Daughters of America Drum and Bugle Corps for seven years. Mrs. Mekis was not musically inclined, but both her daughters were in the corps, so she made it a point to get involved for them.

"It was an all-girl drum and bugle corps that actually started in Butler in 1940," Ms. Dunn said. "She only took this position because of us and because of her great organizational skills, and it's funny, because many of the instructors she hired for us have gone on to become big names in the drum and bugle corps scene."

Her involvement with her family extended to her grandchildren.

"She would never let six weeks go by without seeing them, no matter where we were at the time," her daughter said.

Mrs. Mekis was a member of the St. John Roman Catholic Church in the Coylesville section of Clearfield, and was formerly a member of St. Peter Roman Catholic Church in Butler.

She was a member of the Alamos Western Square Dance Club, and square danced for nearly 10 years.

Mrs. Mekis also was responsible for organizing reunions of the Parkview neighborhood of Butler's West End every five years.

"That was the neighborhood where mom grew up and lived for many, many years, and they have all kept in touch," Ms. Dunn said.

In her spare time, Mrs. Mekis also made her own greeting cards.

"She would needle-point greeting cards," Ms. Dunn said. "She sent quite a few of those out to a lot of people."

Mrs. Mekis is also survived by her second husband, Ray Mekis, of Fenelton; a daughter, Deborah (Gary) Egelsky, of Vienna, Ohio; a brother, Gary Hillman, of Saxonburg; three grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Joseph Kutsch.

Burial was Monday in Butler County Memorial Park.