Gary Paul Sandberg

Gary Paul Sandberg, 82, of Auburn, AL, passed away peacefully on March 2, 2025, in hospice care at Russell Medical Center in Alexander City, AL, surrounded by family. He had resided at Bill Nichols Veterans Home for the past fifteen months.  

Born Sherman Lewis Osquist on March 3, 1942, in Minneapolis, MN, Gary was adopted in 1946 by his loving parents, Paul and Bernice "Babe" Sandberg.

Gary was married to Beverly Huotari Sandberg for nearly 59 years, sharing a life filled with love and devotion. A nursing student at the time, Beverly and Gary had their first date - a picnic in the rain at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. Gary was the proud father of Christine “Chum” Wellbaum (Rob) and was preceded in death by his son, Paul Walter Sandberg, who passed away at just nine months old from a congenital heart defect. 

As a loving grandfather, known as "Baba", he found great joy in cheering on his granddaughters Hannah Wellbaum, Maddie Wellbaum, and Lilli Wellbaum at their softball games, dance recitals, baton twirling competitions, golf tournaments, and flag football games. They always brightened his day, and he enjoyed being silly with them. He also cherished time spent with his many siblings, Beverly's family, cousins, nieces, and nephews, often traveling to spend time with them - he was always up for an adventure.  

Raised as an only child in the Twin Cities area, in 1982, with the support of his parents, he embarked on a search for his birth family, discovering he was the ninth of thirteen Osquist children - seven boys and six girls. His siblings included Howard Osquist, Dwight Osquist, Don Bunn, Wayne Lough, Pat Warren, Barbara Eidahl, Gordon Silitz, Muriel Hanson, Wynona Brown, Jim Kunze, Connie Herzfeld, and Sue Pace. This amazing story about reuniting siblings and families was featured in various news articles and programs, and the Osquist family continues to hold regular reunions. 

Gary honorably served in the United States Navy, enlisting and completing basic training during his junior year of high school, he began active duty after graduating from Robbinsdale High School in 1960. He trained at NAS Pensacola before being stationed at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where he worked with a top-secret clearance as an aerial photographer in the fleet intelligence command. After completing his military service in the Naval Reserves, he graduated from the Minnesota School of Business and attended the Control Data Institute in Minneapolis. Gary had a long career in technical sales and service mostly in the data processing and computer fields. His career took he and Beverly to Dallas, TX; Miami, FL; Atlanta, GA; and Auburn, AL, where he retired from Gorrie-Regan.  

Gary was a man of faith, attending Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Lilburn, GA, as well as Auburn United Methodist Church and Trinity Lutheran Church in Auburn, AL. Unsure if he had been baptized as a child, he chose to be baptized in January 2020 by Reverend Cory Smith at Auburn United Methodist Church.  

Throughout his life he was an avid reader, stamp collector, and photographer, and loved to travel. Gary became fascinated with genealogy which helped in finding his family. Also, he and Beverly loved square dancing and became quite good at it. Gary visited all 50 US states. In May 2023, an Alaskan cruise with Beverly, Christine and Rob earned he and Christine their 50th state. In retirement, Gary enjoyed taking classes at OLLI at Auburn (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) and sharing meals with his ROMEO (Retired Old Men Eating Out) buddies. After his bout with cancer, Gary was a volunteer at the Spencer Cancer Center. He also enjoyed spending time with his friends at REACH at AUMC, a respite ministry.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to REACH at AUMC, P.O. Box 3135, Auburn, AL 36831-3135, online at https://aumc.onlinegiving.org/donate/guest_donate?#!/ (select REACH Memorials) or to support OLLI at Auburn at AUF, P.O. Box 3140, Auburn, AL 36831-3140, online at http://auburngiving.org/GarySandberg.

A visitation and memorial service will be held at Auburn United Methodist Church, Founders Chapel, on March 9, 2025 (visitation at 2:00pm, service at 3:00pm), located at 137 S. Gay Street, Auburn, AL. A celebration of life will occur in August at Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis, MN (hoping for good weather).