Individual Details

Obituary from The Kanabec County Times, 6 April 2010:
Saundra Jean Garton (Roberts)
March 22, 1940 – March 23, 2010

Our beautiful loving and caring mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, wife, sister, sister-in-law, daughter, aunt and friend, Saundra Jean of Ogilvie, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at her daughter’s home in Centerville. The morning after her 70th birthday spent with family and five fabulous days with daughters and family in Las Vegas, Nev. for her grandson’s wedding. It was a deep shock and tragic loss to the family who loved her so much and feel a great, deep loss without her.

She was born on March 22, 1940 to Arthur Leonard Wold and Ida Jean (Gould) Wold in Ayr, N.D. She was a child of a family of seven. A very close knit family who loved each other so much. She gave birth to her first child, Lynn Arthur, her oldest son, on May 22, 1959 in Moorhead, MN. We later called him Robby.

She and Lynn moved to Anaheim, Calif. in 1959 along with her parents and family. She was united in marriage to Shelby Stephen Roberts on Dec. 19, 1964. Her second child, Pamela Jean, was born on July 3, 1965, in Nashville, Tenn. Two and a half years later, her second daughter, Rebecca Rae, was born on Dec. 30, 1967. They lived in Tennessee for a short time and she was a member of the Madison Church of Christ. They then moved back to California and she had her youngest son, Andrew Stephen on May 29, 1970. They lived different places in California during their marriage and she was a homemaker for many years. They were married a total of 15 years.

Over the years she had become a friend of Bill W. and had sobriety of 31 1/2 years that she was so very proud and so was her family. She graduated from high school at a late age.

She went back and attended Cypress College to obtain her actual high school diploma and she achieved that with pride in 1976 at the age of 36. Over the years, she did various jobs. In 1983, she and her daughters took a trip to Minnesota where her parents had moved back to in the late 70s. She then decided to move back to Minnesota taking her daughter Becki with her. They made a new life back there and enjoyed the country way of living again. She enjoyed the outdoors so much. She had been employed with Fingerhut in Mora for nine years before she got hurt. Her father had a stroke in 1991 and was brought back to Minnesota to be cared for there. She cared for her dad for a short time at her home in Brook Park until he went to the Villa Nursing Home.

She had her first stroke at the age of 54 in May, 1994. She faced brain surgery, but on top of that she faced the loss of her father in August 1994. That was a very hard time for her. She had brain surgery and they took care of three brain aneurysms at that time.

In 1996 on vacation with her daughter Pamela and her grandsons, she met Richard. He helped her look for her lost chihuahua, Buddy, who went missing for 26 hours in the Nevada Lake Mead desert. They didn’t get together until Feb. 5, 1998 when they moved to Estecada, Ore. They lived there until 2000 and then moved to Pahrump, Nev. She was then again near her brother Harold and sister Judy in Las Vegas. She spent a lot of time with her siblings there and in California to see the rest of her family and mom.

She was a member of the Pahrump Church of Christ. She and Richard were married there on June 23, 2001. She became very involved with the church and that made her so happy. She had two more strokes during the years of 1994 and 2000. The one in 2000 was very hard because it paralyzed her for a short time. She didn’t let it bring her down. She bounced back to her usual self, but was informed she had three more brain aneurysms that were inoperable. It didn’t stop her from living. She took life by the horns and lived it to the fullest until April 15, 2003 when she was devastated by the news of the death of her oldest son, Lynn at the age of 43. Her life changed with an emptiness in her heart that never went away. She had a broken heart from the loss of her boy at such a young age. Her life went on and she and Richard lived a good life. They moved to Minnesota by this time. They purchased a home with acreage in Ogilvie. This is where they resided together until the time of her passing. She was a member for awhile at the New Hope Christian Reform Church in Ogilvie. She then started attending the Pine City Church of Christ and was with that church at the time of her death. Richard and Sandi were together a total of 12 years.

She was an incredible, wonderful woman. Her family is lost without her. She is so deeply, deeply missed. She had such an incredible personality that affected the people whose lives she touched. Even if you only met her for a brief moment, it made such an impression to that person. She had such an infectious smile, she was a sparkle of life. Her laughter rang so loudly that you had to laugh because it warmed your heart. She was a very loving and generous woman. Her greatest pride and joy was all of her family – her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She could never give enough love to them all or hold them often enough. She could never spend enough time with them all. As the years went by, the children and grandchildren, sisters and brothers, were spread out in different states, but that didn’t stop her. She and Richard traveled a lot. She enjoyed a cruise to the Mexican Riviera in December, 2006 for her grandson Cody and Kris’s wedding. She had a few trips to Yellowstone National Park with her grandchildren and one trip with her oldest great-grandchild Aleah, who was only 2 weeks old at the time. There were camping trips with daughters Pam, Becki and grandkids at Lake Mead, Nev. and trips to Indiana to visit her son Andrew and wife Sharon and three children. She visited and helped care for her brother and sister-in-law, Harold and Versa, whom she loved so much. There were also trips with her daughter Becki and her family Craig, Austin and Brody, and trips she and Richard made alone to visit the family.

Sandi loved so many things in life. She loved riding her jet ski, camping, family gatherings, singing mostly gospel, but really enjoyed singing with her daughters. She loved playing Yahtzee, playing her video games, playing cards with Richard or her siblings, going to the casinos with Becki or her brother Harold. She loved being active in the church. She helped anybody she could. Her brother, her father, her nephew, her great-granddaughter Tiana, her daughters, her grandsons, and even a stranger. Her smile warmed you up even if you had a bad day. She attended her grandson’s activities on numerous occasions, volunteered with a few of them and enjoyed watching Austin and Brody in their sports. Her hands were hard-working hands. God gave her a gift of true love to give to others. She gave rides to those who had none and helped those who couldn’t help themselves at times. She was even a Walmart greeter in Blaine for a short time because she enjoyed people so much.

She taught VBS in Palmdale at the Church of Christ. She loved children a lot. They were always so precious to her – a gift from God she would say. She was a strong believer in God and taught her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She always bragged about her little Kawai because of her special name, which was so long because it is Hawaiian and a mouthful to say. It means flower from the water and heavenly skies. She served the sick and the poor. Her last days on this earth were spent with family and loved ones, which was where she wanted to be. She was with her two daughters in Las Vegas, went to her grandson Danny and Kim’s wedding, got to see her two brothers, Randy and Jerry, race their cars. She was so proud. She enjoyed her last days very happy in the arms of people who loved her and shared happiness with ones she didn’t even know. She was always there loving her family and living life to the fullest until the end to her 70th birthday. Then God took her home to share her love in her new life, free from pain and free from the tears that she shed for her dad and her son, free to live in her new life with her Savior, Jesus Christ. She was home at last.

Life will not be the same without her here with us. We’ll keep her in our hearts forever and always until we meet again.

Preceeded in death by son, Lynn Arthur Roberts; father Arthur Wold; brother Marlon Wold; two nephews, Michael and Harold Wold; aunts, uncles and parents.

She is survived by her husband Richard Garton, Ogilvie; daughters, Pamela (Roberts), Jerde (Curtis), Rebecca Roberts Borowicz (Craig); son Andrew Roberts (Sharon); stepson Timothy Garton; stepdaughter Katrina Garton; 18 grandchildren, Cody Kaahea (Kris), Daniel Robyn (Kimberly), Troy Robyn, Melissa Ericsson (Pete), Lisa Robyn (Adam), Austin Borowicz, Brody Borowicz, Ethan Roberts, Trisha Roberts, Jeremy Ball (Robin), Ben Roberts, Abigail Roberts, Ellie Roberts, Timothy Jr. Garton, Angela Garton, Robert Garton; five great-grandchildren, Ryan Prow and Chase Carl, Aleah Robyn, Tiana Robyn, Kawailehua Kaahea; former husband Steven Roberts; brothers, Harold (Versa) Wold, Randy (Jan) Wold, Jerry (Connie); sisters, Judy (Michael) Peterson, Rhonda (Ron) Pinegar; mom Ida (James) Scott; many nieces, nephews and friends.

Memorial services will be at New Hope Christian Reform Church in Ogilvie on April 9 at 2 p.m. Funeral arrangements were made by Dresser-Methven Funeral Service of Mora.

Birth	22 Mar 1940	Ayr, Cass County, North Dakota
Marriage	19 Dec 1964	Living
Divorce	16 Jul 1979	Orange, Orange County, California - Living
Marriage	22 Sep 1990	Dakota County, Minnesota - Living
Divorce	Bef Jun 2001	Living
Marriage	23 Jun 2001	Pahrump, Nye County, Nevada - Living
Death	23 Mar 2010	Centerville, Anoka County, Minnesota

Spouse	Living ( - )
Child	Lynn Arthur ROBERTS (1959 - 2003)
Child	Living (1965 - )
Child	Living (1967 - )
Child	Living (1970 - )

Spouse

Living ( - )

Father	Arthur Lenhardt WOLD (1916 - 1994)
Mother	Ida (Babe) Jean Gould (1919 - 2011)
Sibling	Marlon Arthur WOLD (1938 - 2007)
Sibling	Living (1942 - )
Sibling	Harold Arlan WOLD (1944 - 2010)
Sibling	Living (1946 - )
Sibling	Living (1951 - )
Sibling	Living (1956 - )