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Mom in November, 2007

“Mickey” Sandra Duane Riley Belden, 70, died July 1, 2009, in Gloria’s Golden Heart Assisted Living, in Anchorage after suffering from a brain tumor.

A memorial service was held 2:00 pm Sunday, July 5, 2009, at UAA Fine Arts Building, Music Recital Hall with the Venerable Norman H.V. Elliott officiating. She will be inurned at Anchorage Memorial Park Columbarium at a later date.

Mrs. Belden was born November 27, 1938, in Belleville, Kansas to the late William Orville and Mildred Irene Harding Riley. In 1956, she graduated from Belleville High School and went on to Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas where she graduated with a Bachelors of Music in Voice in 1960 and a Bachelors of Music in Education in 1961. Mrs. Belden received a Master of Education in Adult Education from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1999.

From 1960-1973 Mrs. Belden was a music teacher in the Kansas Public School System and then went on to be a records clerk at the University of North Texas, Denton from 1973-1978. In 1978 she and her family moved to Anchorage where she worked at Anchorage Community College and University of Alaska Anchorage from 1978-1992 as a records clerk. She is most well-known, however, for being instructor of voice at ACC and UAA from 1980-2009.

Mickey was past president of the Anchorage Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and she was a long-time member of the Col. John Mitchell Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Mickey was a wonderful singer, inspired teacher to countless students, a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, and true friend. She took passionate interest in music, the arts and education. She was a voracious reader and water aerobics fanatic. We’ll miss her wry humor and her open approach to the people she met and to the challenges and opportunities she encountered.

She is survived by her husband, George Ross Belden; sons, Steven Ross (Rhea Richmond) Belden of Ninilchik, Alaska and David George (Mary-Terese Cozzola) Belden of Chicago, Illinois; grandchildren, Anneliese Mazatlana, Severn Rhead, and Esme Hedera Belmond all of Ninilchik, AK; aunt Betty Ann Cwik of Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

A memorial scholarship fund will be established at UAA in the near future.