Sandra Jeanne "Sandy" Lundquist

Sandra Jeanne “Sandy” Lundquist, was born July 25, 1936, in Somerville, Massachusetts to Edward L. Traver Jr. and Frances Whitcher Traver and passed away peacefully March 22, 2025.

She grew up in historic Lexington, Massachusetts and was a 1954 graduate of Lexington High School. Summers were spent at church camps and their cabin near Cape Cod. At age 11, Sandy was the New Hampshire State Champion in Junior Horsemanship.

She earned a B.A. from Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa and that summer married Gene Gilbert. They settled in Warsaw, Illinois where she began her career as a public school teach in English before moving to Minnesota where the University of Minnesota certified her for Special Education. Their two children were born in the ‘60s.

In 1972, twelve families of the (now) Community of Christ church created a special neighborhood called “LaPaz” (peace) in Apple Valley, Minnesota where all shared in family activities. Sandy was active in her community and also co-authored a church school curriculum. Sandy’s husband succumbed to cancer in 1975 and the LaPaz community was a great source of support.

Sandy and Clarence Lundquist were married on March 31, 1985, and lived on Shallow Lake in Warba, Minnesota. They spent the next decades in various service opportunities: managers of Eagle Lake Campground; teaching English in Pravets, Bulgaria; special work missions in Saltillo, Mexico for Outreach International in Tegucigalpa, Honduras for Cadena de Amor and New Life Deaf Ministry, and later in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.

In the mid ‘90s, Clarence and Sandy moved to Bella Vista, Arkansas and enjoyed active participation in the Bella Vista Community Church, especially the Sanctuary Choir. (It was there that those balloon clowns Checkers and Freckles were “born.”) They moved back to Minnesota in 2006 –first to Aitkin then to Heartwood Senior Living in Crosby since 2016.

Sandy was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband Eldon Gene Gilbert; her brother Edward L. Traver, III (Ted); and her stepfather, David M. Haseltine. She is survived by her husband Clarence K. Lundquist; her son E. Glenn Gilbert and wife Diane of Falcon Heights, MN, and Grandson Evan of Minneapolis; her daughter Angela Heine and husband Mark of Cottage Grove, WI; 4 stepchildren 10 step-grandchildren, and 19 step-great grandchildren.

Sandy arranged whole body donation to the University of Minnesota Medical school Anatomy Bequeath Program. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. in the Community Room at Heartwood with a reception to follow.  Arrangements are with the Koop Funeral Home in Crosby.