Edith Carolyn (Sandberg) Adams
9/2/1928 – 6/11/2014
We have lost our brilliant beauty queen of a mother after a long and valiant fight with congestive heart failure, during which we think she kept her weak heart beating through sheer force of will.
Edith Sandberg was born in Hoquiam, Washington to Oscar and Charlotte Sandberg. She graduated from Hoquiam High School in 1946 as class Valedictorian and attended Central Washington University in Ellensburg despite her father’s objections to girls going to college. She met Alan Duane Adams on her first day there and married him soon after they both graduated in June 1951. After completing his Air Force duty and Dental School at the University of Washington, they settled on Mercer Island, where they raised their four children. After retirement in 1986, they moved to Hood Canal and lived there for 28 years. She died just five days short of their 63rd wedding anniversary.
Our mother was a keenly intelligent and beautiful woman. She was the kind of mom who made you almost burst with pride when she came to your third grade class to help with a party, or when you brought your college friends home for Thanksgiving. She was kind to all and never let on if she did not like someone; in fact one of her most remarkable qualities was her refusal to gossip about people. Mom was born in an era when most women channeled their talents into home-making, and her family and friends were the beneficiaries of her training in Home Economics at Central. She was a great hostess and cook, and loved to give cocktail and dinner parties. As our family expanded to include spouses, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, one of the great constants of our lives was looking forward to gatherings at Mom and Dad’s home for holidays and birthdays, where we were always guaranteed a delicious and beautifully presented meal. She even made gift-wrapping and flower arranging into an art form. She loved to share her love of cooking, sewing, and other domestic skills, and all of us will treasure what we learned from her.
Mom and Dad loved to travel and over the years they toured Europe, parts of Africa, Nepal, Thailand, Antarctica, and many other places, usually with a group of fun-lovin’ couples known as “The Study Club.” She was active for many years with her Arboretum Group, her Bridge Club, the Mercer Island Country Club where she enjoyed playing tennis, her “Friday Lunch Bunch” who for a while jointly owned a racehorse of that same name (she claimed they broke even racing her at Longacres), and more recently her Book Club at Hood Canal. She also loved Tupperware and kitchen gadgets, as we were reminded while cleaning out her kitchen!
Her many other loves included flowers, Masterpiece Theatre, good books, crossword puzzles, making cookies, Abby (her cat), and her family and friends. We will all miss seeing her beautiful smile light up her face, her dignity and class, and her wonderful way of showing her love for us through her actions, whether cooking a meal, sewing an elaborate Halloween costume, wrapping a present, arranging flowers, or baking cookies; she infused all she did for us with grace, creativity, and loveliness. Her new home in our hearts will be a place we visit often.
Mom was preceded in death by her son David in 2005, and she is survived by her husband, Al; sister and brother, Trudy Slingland (Bob) and Oscar Sandberg, Jr. (Lois); children, Brian Adams (Kathy), Cameon Geyer (Bill), Cathy Taylor (Wayne); grandchildren, Jordan Taylor (Michelle), Lindsey Adams Buchanan (Matt), Amy Taylor Lefotu (Dan), Riley Taylor (Bhritney), Nick Taylor (Anna), Dashiell and Daulton Geyer; and great-grandchildren Aurelia, Florence, and Atticus Taylor.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, July 25th at Calvary Fellowship Church in Mountlake Terrace (23302 56th Avenue West) at 1:00 pm, followed by a reception. We would LOVE to receive flowers, considering how much she loved them, but remembrances in Mom’s name to KCTS Public Television would also honor her memory.
