In Memory of Marie Sandstrom
There’s a photo on the Beverly Area Planning Association website from the 2016 Memorial Day Parade that shows an older white woman talking with a young Black boy, while they sit together on the curb in front of the Horton House on Longwood Drive.
That woman was Marie Sandstrom, and that was the kind of thing that Marie did – reach out to people and engage with them in a kind, genuine, straight-forward way.
The Ridge Historical Society was saddened to learn that Marie passed away on April 23, 2023, at 94 years of age.
Marie and her husband, Bill Sandstrom, were a major presence at RHS for many years. Bill passed away in 2019, after serving as RHS president and treasurer.
Marie was part of the Social Committee at RHS; in fact, for some time she was the entire Social Committee. Marie could always be counted on to help at an event, setting up the buffet table, making the coffee, greeting and serving people, cleaning up. If attendees were lucky, Marie made her famous lemon bars to be served that day.
As part of her self-assigned duties, Marie took care of household tasks around the Graver-Driscoll House, things that many people just took for granted – buying paper towels and toilet paper and coffee; arranging for the place to be cleaned; laundering the curtains.
A physically small woman, Marie’s head barely cleared the steering wheel of her car. To the unpracticed eye, it would look like a driverless car had just pulled into the parking area.
However, although she was small, she was mighty. Marie was no push-over; she held her ground for what she thought was right.
The Sandstroms were dedicated members of Bethany Union Church, where Marie was usually in charge of the kitchen. The church’s annual spaghetti dinners under the direction of “Mama Marie” were unforgettable, drawing in large crowds for Marie’s homemade spaghetti sauce.
They were also active members of the Kiwanis and the Chicago Art Deco Society.
The real passion that Marie and Bill shared, though, was dancing. Bill took dancing lessons as a young World War II veteran so he could meet girls at dances. One young lady he asked to dance was Marie Bianchi. They got married in 1952. They had two children and the family moved to Beverly in 1965.
Marie and Bill became members of the Cotillion Club in Beverly, which had formed in 1939. “Cotillions” are formal balls, and the club held regular formal dances at local country clubs and other venues. As late as 2018, the Sandstroms, both in their 90s, were on the Club’s Dance Committee. Some of the dances at cotillions have specific moves and steps that the dancers need to be proficient in, and the Sandstroms shared the floor with the best.
At Bill’s memorial service, one of their grandsons related a favorite family story about the couple’s dancing. While in Pasadena for that grandson’s graduation, the family was out for an evening of entertainment. Bill requested a song from the jazz piano player and singer, and he and Marie began to dance. Other patrons came over to watch this elderly, accomplished couple perform, and began depositing money in an empty water glass in the center of the table. At the end of the dance, the singer came over to tell them she had never seen anything like this in all her years; their dancing together was beautiful. Noticing the monetary donations, she laughed and told them, “You two should come back every night – you could really make a living at this!”
Bill was eulogized for his loyalty, kindness, and service, but it’s more accurate to say that like dancing, it was a team effort, made possible by Marie and Bill working together.
There is a saying that “service is the rent we pay for being.” Marie and Bill surely paid enough rent through their service to others to now be dancing together forever in the finest heavenly mansion.