Helen Sandstrom

Thursday, January 12, 2012
Helen Joyce Sandstrom

Our beloved wife, mother and grandmother, Helen Joyce Sandstrom, 92, of Glenns Ferry, passed away on January 11, 2012.

Joyce was born on October 1, 1919, in Superior, Wisconsin to Herman and Cora Oesterreich, where she was raised along with her sisters Jeanne and Lee. She was a graduate of Superior State College and was a teacher in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas and Glenns Ferry.

She married her college sweetheart, Russell Sandstrom on November 26, 1943. Together they raised their three children, Katherine, Russell and Heidi as an Air Force family stationed in Europe and South American. They moved to Idaho in 1972 and eventually settled in Glenns Ferry.

Besides her devotion to her family and friends, Joyce fulfilled her many life-long passions in education, music, travel, history and dedication to numerous civic organizations. She was a member of the Eastern Star, PEO and active in her community of friends in Glenns Ferry.

Joyce was preceded in death by her parents and sisters. She is survived by her husband Russell of Glenns Ferry, her daughter Katherine Venemon and her husband Robert, her daughter Heidi Schwartz and her husband Shannon, and her son Russell Sandstrom and his wife Patricia. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Camille and Justin Venemon and Shandi and Wyatt Schwartz.

A funeral services will be held at the Grace Episcopal Church in Glenns Ferry, with a viewing at 9am until the 10am service on Tuesday, January 17, 2012, and internment will follow at 3pm at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery in Boise.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her honor to the Grace Episcopal Church or the Three Island Senior Center in Glenns Ferry.