SANDAGE, Richard Elmont Sr. 1920-2009

SANDAGE, BARADA, FARRER

Posted By: Diane M Scott (email)
Date: 9/28/2012 at 13:43:28

Richard Elmont Sandage – December 2, 1920 – August 22, 2009

MASON CITY - R.E. "Dick" Sandage, Sr., 88, died Saturday (Aug. 22, 2009) at the Iowa Odd Fellows' Home in Mason City where he was under the care of Hospice of North Iowa.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 25, in the front parlor at the Odd Fellows Home, with military rites and inurnment at Rock Grove Cemetery, Nora Springs.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Hospice of North Iowa, 232 Second St. S.E., Mason City, IA 50401.

Richard Elmont Sandage was born Dec. 2, 1920, in Walthill, Neb., on the Omaha Indian Reservation. His mother, Ruth Matilda Barada, was of Omaha tribal descent, and his father, Joseph Oliver Sandage Sr., came from Indiana.

The youngest of seven, Dick attended school on the reservation and later in Sioux City. During the Great Depression, he dropped out of eighth grade to join the Civilian Conservation Corps, a federal work program for young men. He was assigned to Camp Malvern, and received $5 per month pay, plus $25 sent directly home to his mother.

He enlisted in the Navy on Dec. 15, 1941, a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor. With only six weeks of basic training (which did not include teaching him to swim) at Great Lakes, Ill., he shipped out of Boston, Mass., on the USS Biscayne, a seaplane tender.

The Biscayne saw action in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, participating in the invasions of North Africa, France, Sicily, Anzio, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and in the occupation of the Philippines.

Dick was honorably discharged as an electrician's first mate with a good conduct medal and three campaign ribbons in October 1947. He loved telling navy stories, laughing about shipboard hijinks rather than recounting sea battles.

While on shore leave in the fall of 1945, he met Shirley Marie Farrer in Mason City, and they were married at the First Christian Church on Feb. 10, 1946. Dick earned a high school equivalency diploma and, in 1947, found work in the power plant at People's Gas & Electric (later Interstate Power and now Alliant Energy) on South Delaware Avenue.

He retired with 38 years' service in 1985. He also held many part-time jobs to support what he called "my hobbystaying out of debt." He was proud of taking only nine years to pay off the 30-year mortgage on the house at 842 Sixth Place S.E., which he and Shirley built with their own hands.

In retirement, Dick went every day to the Mason City Public Library and the Senior Citizens' Center and he worshiped every Sunday at the First Christian Church. During summers he logged more than 2,000 miles riding the bicycle path between Mason City and Clear Lake. He also attended annual reunions of the USS Biscayne crew and spent holidays and summer visits with family on the East Coast.

In February 2003, he moved into the Iowa Odd Fellows Home. He was a 60-year member of that organization and also joined the Elks and Moose clubs, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Always a very private man, he nevertheless loved talking to people and struck up conversations with strangers everywhere he went. He laughed loudly and easily but could not tell jokes - he always broke up before getting to the punchline.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Shirley M. Sandage of Frederick, Md.; by three sons, Richard E. "Chip" Sandage Jr., of Frederick, John B. Sandage and partner, Gregory D. Blackley, of Vienna, Austria, and Scott A. Sandage of Pittsburgh, Pa.; by two grandchildren, Autumn M. Sandage of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Christopher M. Sandage, of Stafford, Va.; and by many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers and three sisters.

Arrangements are with Major Erickson Funeral Home and Crematory, 641-423-0924.

Globe Gazette, August 23, 2009