Sandra Joy Noerenberg

Sandra Joy Noerenberg was born May 12, 1941 to Earl and Evelyn (Christensen) Clark in Worthington, Minnesota. Because her father was in the National Guard and Navy during WWII, she spent her early life on her grandparents’ farm outside of Worthington. When her dad returned from WWII in 1944, they moved to their own small house on the farm and then to their own farm. She was baptized at American Lutheran Church in Worthington on July 12, 1950 and later confirmed in 1954. As a teenager, she loved teaching Bible School and singing in the church’s Junior Choir. She attended District 42 country school through 8th grade and Worthington High School through 10th grade. In 1957, Sandy married the love of her life, Donald Noerenberg, at American Lutheran Church in Worthington. Following their marriage, the couple moved into town. They lived in Worthington in the early 60’s and Sandy worked at Campbell’s Soup. In 1966, they moved to Anaheim, California where Sandy worked as an Art Department Manager, as a seamstress for Catalina Swimsuits, and as a clerk in a uniform shop until 1975. She went back to college to obtain her GED and a degree in Medical Assisting. In 1976, Sandy got her first job as a Certified Medical Assistant and worked with pediatric doctors and then a heart surgeon. In the early 90’s, Sandy was able to travel to Sweden with her mother Evelyn to visit relatives still living there.  In 1996, Sandy retired from the medical field and went to work for Disneyland. In 2006, they moved back to Minnesota, living on a 7-acre property in Beaver Creek on Highway 23. They moved to Luverne, Minnesota in 2018. On Wednesday, December 6, 2023, Sandy died peacefully at Ava’s House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at the age of 82 years, 6 months, and 25 days.

Sandy had a lifelong love for her family, which helped her through some rough times. When asked, “What is the best thing God gave you?”, Sandy answered “Parents that loved each other.” Sandy followed that example and brought the love her parents taught her to the rest of her family. She was very devoted to her four brothers and one sister. She always tried to maintain a positive attitude, leaning on her family to get through difficulties. She lost 2 sons in infancy, but kept her faith throughout that time.  She was formerly a member of American Lutheran Church in Worthington, Faith Lutheran Church in Anaheim, and is currently a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne. She enjoyed reading, especially if it was about archeology or genealogy. She loved sewing cross stitch linens; her many friends and family were often recipients of her loving works. She loved watching the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball and the Minnesota Twins baseball games. She also enjoyed traveling to Montana and California and loved country music from the 1950s. Her favorite place was Convict Lake in California.

Sandy is lovingly survived by her husband of 66 years, Don; children, Suzanne Rae (Chester) Summers of Abilene, Texas, Diane Sue (Roger) Bry of Brandon, South Dakota, and Linda Lou (Ted) Cochran of Garden Grove, California; 12 grandchildren, Laura Applin, Tobin Summers, Tracie (Chris) Fejes, Tim (Heather) Summers, Don (Desi) Summers, Ashley (Jack) Hines, Courtney (Kurt) Jordan, Celiese (Damian) Yawman, Ashley Cochran, Amy (Terry) Cochran-Poteete, Carla Cochran, Cody Cochran; 23 great-grandchildren, Alexis (Ron) Alvarez, Annalise Hess, Micah Hess, Jelani Applin, Shylo Summers, Shalyn Summers, Thomas Summers, Alisdair Summers, Peyton Fejes, Dylan Summers, Madison Summers, Cole Summers, Casey Hines, Rebekah Hines, Amelia Hines, Andrew Jordan,  Devin Yawman, Evelyn Yawman, Kenneth Keokot, and Kennedy Keokot, Charity Poteete, Harmony Poteete, Shilo Poteete; five siblings, Larry Clark of Hayesville, North Carolina, Richard (Barbara) Clark of Anaheim, California, Roger (Sharon) Clark of Ferndale, Washington, Ronald (Athena) Clark of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Kathleen (Glen) Garrison of Vienna, Ohio; along with in-laws, an aunt, cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Earl and Evelyn Clark; and two infant sons, Donald Jr. and Terry Michael.