SUSAN SHIRLEY SANDSTROM

Susan (Jobes) Sandstrom, age 93, passed away peacefully in her home on the shore of Sturgeon Lake on February 7, 2026. Surrounded by her children at the time of her passing, she rose to new life in heaven, after a long and happy journey on this earth. Her hope and firm faith prepared her to be welcomed into the presence of Jesus Christ, and reunited with her husband Roger, her sisters, extended family, and many friends.

Sue was born in Minneapolis on November 14, 1932, to father, Roger Jobes and mother, Edith (Calhoun) Jobes. She grew up in southwest Minneapolis and St. Louis Park, graduating in 1950 from Southwest High School, where she was honored to be chosen homecoming queen in her senior year. She then attended the University of Minnesota, earning a B.A. degree in social work. While still a college student, she met her husband Roger Sandstrom on a blind date. They were married in August 1954 at Joyce Methodist Church in south Minneapolis. Roger and his parents were longtime members of Joyce Methodist, and the newlyweds were regular attenders. In their south Minneapolis home, Susan and Roger raised a family of three sons and a daughter.

Susan's husband Roger was a fourth-generation successor to property on the east side of Sturgeon Lake in Pine County; thus, the young couple spent many days enjoying cabin life on the lakes "up north." Throughout the years of early child raising and young teen life, the Sandstrom family spent countless weekends and full summers at Sturgeon Lake, in the cabin built by Roger in 1966. Sue maintained a strict but fun-filled summer home life for the kids at the lake, while Roger traveled back and forth, working in the Twin Cities and rejoining the family each Friday night. Then in 1972, Roger and Sue pulled up stakes and moved the family to Sturgeon Lake as their year-round residence, all of them feeling fortunate to live in the humble lakeside home they loved, adjacent to "Gramma Hazel" and "Grampa Edgar" Sandstrom. Susan spent 60 years in that same cabin-home, until her timely passing.

The Jobes family home in which Sue grew up was a loving, nurturing, well-disciplined environment with traditional values, but did not provide a foundation in Christian belief. Sue sometimes attended church with friends or a grandmother, but in her own words, "didn't take the gospel to heart." Then during the mid 1970's, while Susan was gradually becoming an empty nester, her younger sisters Polly and Nancy and her daughter Heidi began praying for her and introduced her to faith in Jesus Christ as her personal savior. At age 46 and for the rest of her life, Sue became a faith-filled follower of Christ. In her 1998 autobiography, she wrote, "My love and gratitude for Jesus is ever present. My decision released an immediate feeling of joy and peace. I have the peace of Christ and the joy of salvation." She began reading and understanding scripture and joined a home Bible study with a group of friends, which lasted for many years. Prayer became an important part of her daily life, praying for family, friends and anyone she was aware of who needed physical or spiritual support.

For over 40 years, Sue was an active member of the Moose Lake Covenant Church, where she served on the kitchen team and in the nursery. Providing childcare was one of her great passions in life, beginning at age ten as a babysitter, then throughout many years as a church volunteer and longtime nursery worker for the Community MOMS group. A generation of "other people's children" knew her as "Grandma Sue." Eventually when she retired from infant and toddler care, she was heard to say, "I can't take care of the babies anymore, but I can still pray for them!"

Everyone who knew Sue recognized her cheerful, outgoing personality and sharp wit; a woman who loved a lively chat laced with humor and innuendo. She was also a faithful note writer and card sender, with beautiful penmanship. On Sunday mornings, she could open up a hymnal to sing the alto part of any song, in perfect harmony. For many of her senior years, she kept herself physically fit by walking around the south end of Sturgeon Lake from April to November, using her treadmill during the winter, even to the last months of her life. After suffering her first stroke in 2018, and the passing of her husband in 2019, Susan became a homebody who loved to entertain her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and to host visits from family, friends and neighbors. She will be remembered for being unselfish and loving, faithful and fun.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years Roger Sandstrom, her parents, brother Peter Jobes, and sisters Dibbie Brown, Polly Trucker, and Nancy Heinen.

Susan is survived by her sons, Scott (Karen) Sandstrom, James (Dianna) Sandstrom, Jerry (Melanie) Sandstrom; and daughter Heidi (Darren) Straub. She also loved her 10 grandchildren (Kevin, Steven, Kassi; Noelle, Sandra, Roger; Julie, Joseph; Allyson, Andrew), 22 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews, by whom she was loved as Auntie Susie.

Visitation: 1:00 until the 2:00 p.m. Celebration of Life Service Saturday, May 2, 2026, at Hamlin Hansen Kosloski Funeral Home, 609 Folz Boulevard, Moose lake, Minnesota.