Obituary of William Loren Van Sandt

On December 31, 2011 Bill's gallant fight with cancer came to an end as he passed away quietly at home with his wife and family at his side, at the age of 85. We will miss you dearly, "In Our Hearts You Will Always Be, In Our Memories of You, Your Smile We'll See." Bill was born July 15, 1926 to Hugh Lee Van Sandt and Lela Frances Scott Van Sandt in the town of Washburn in the state of Missouri. He was the third child in addition to two sibling sisters, Beatrice and Geneva. In 1937, the family packed their belongings, a baked ham and an applesauce cake that Lela had prepared for their venture and headed off to California. They settled in Santa Cruz, where the family has lived and grown for 4 generations thus far. Bill attended Soquel Elementary, Branciforte Junior High and Santa Cruz High, Class of 1945. Before his graduation from high school, Bill was sent to the Asiatic Pacific to serve as a Seaman First Class in the U.S. Navy, aboard the U.S.S. Holly a submarine net tender. Upon his honorable discharge Bill returned home to Santa Cruz and quickly found work as a mechanic. In 1951 Bill began his 42 year career with Granite Rock, where he started as a mixer driver. The actual mixer which Bill drove has become a historical display at many community events. In those days each driver hand loaded their mixer with sacks of cement which they cut open and poured directly into the mixer drums. It wasn't long before Bill became Manager of the mixer drivers and soon there after Assistant Manager of Granite Rock. Through hard work and the completion of many courses in the fields of engineering as well as studies in the development of management skills, Bill expanded his knowledge of the concrete industry, which led him to his position for decades as Brach Manager of Santa Cruz and Watsonville Granite Rock concrete and Building materials. After Bill's retirement in 1993, he still remained involved in many large concrete pours. Bill's knowledge & skill helped in the development of many large construction projects in Santa Cruz and throughout the Bay Area. Among those are the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor, the Jetty (and the giant jacks), Colleges of UCSC and the Palo Alto Veteran's Hospital. "Bill was an outstanding human being who cared deeply about his values of hard work caring for customer needs, knowing how to get along with customers even when there were difficult personalities, and always being truthful. He will deeply be missed by all those who knew him at Granite Rock and in the construction industry". Bruce Woolpert, President of Granite Rock. Bill was an extremely generous man with a huge heart and a contagious smile, an amazing husband, father, grandfather and friend who was loved and respected by many. Some of Bill's favorite pass times through the years were water skiing trips to the Delta, Motocross races with his son, Billy; attending Hot Rod car shows, cruising his 1932 Ford, watching Nascar, coffee with his friends at the Donut shop and spending time with his family. Bill is preceded in death by his parents, Hugh Lee Van Sandt and Lela Frances Scott Van Sandt; his sisters, Beatrice Astin and Geneva Condict; his stepson, Richard Robert Anderson and his stepdaughter, Carol Anderson Juri. Bill is survived by his wife of 52 years, Joan Van Sandt; his son, Billy Van Sandt (Jr.) and his wife Julie Mc Guire Van Sandt, granddaughters, Jessica, Alexandra and Victoria Van Sandt, Kirsten Motley and her husband Andre, his step-daughter, Christine Wilder, his sister-in-law, Belinda Tetrick, his nephews, James Astin and his wife Linda; Gary Condict and his wife Helen. Cousins, T.J. Scott and his wife Shirley; Larry Scott and his wife Trudy; Joyce Goss and her husband Joel and Rita Milligan and her husband Don. Services will not be held as requested by Bill. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hospice of Santa Cruz County, 940 Disc Dr Scotts Valley, CA 95066-4544 ( www.hospicesantacruz.org). We would like to give thanks to the attending nurses of the Visiting Nurses Association, Satellite Dialysis, Dominican Outpatient Oncology, Dialysis Nurses in the Hospital, Central Coast Oncology, Dr. Kumar, Dr. Yen and Dr. Melise. A very special thanks to all of the staff from Hospice of Santa Cruz County for their compassion and services.