Donald Lewis Sandlin

Don Sandlin was born 93 years ago in Monrovia. His father, Dupree, worked for the railroad, and his mother Elsie was a homemaker. With his sister Ruth and brother John, the family lived above the car repair shop owned by his father and uncle. Monrovia remained dear to his heart, and he would tell stories about the iceman bringing huge cakes of ice, catching the streetcar to downtown Los Angeles, sitting on the library steps reading magazines, and going to the movies at the Lyric Theater, which had a soda fountain where you could buy milkshake for a quarter or a Coke for ten cents. He had fond memories of walking to his piano teacher’s home every day to practice his beloved piano. He went to school on Ivy Avene, and was so proud when his sixth-grade teacher told him, “I wish I had 30 students just like you." He majored in business at Chaffee Junior College in Upland, until his father took him out of school to work for as a clerk for the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1943 he joined the Navy, serving as Company Yeoman, and was sent to a Naval Station near Stockton, California, where he joined the Ship’s Company. He passed the examination for Officers’ Training and was sent to the College of the Pacific in Stockton. His plan to attend Harvard after graduation changed when the War ended, and he returned home to Glendale. He enrolled at UCLA, but soon returned to what is now the University of the Pacific, obtaining his B.A. The following Fall, he enrolled in graduate classes at USC. Having attended both USC and UCLA, he had no problem deciding which was his favorite, and he rooted for USC football for the rest of his life. After obtaining his teaching certification, and began teaching at San Bernardino High School. Around 1952, he met his future wife. Don and Billie were both serving as Sunday school helpers at a Christian Science church in Glendale. Billie said that the moment she saw him, she knew she was going to marry him. They married in 1953 in a small ceremony in a friend’s backyard in Glendale. They had an ice cream cake which the hostess forgot to defrost, and in her panic, she put it in the oven. Fortunately, the marriage was far more successful than the wedding cake. Don began teaching businesses classes at South Gate High School. Sharon was born a year later. Billie was an escrow officer, but also started selling Tupperware. When Billie became a Manager, Don became interested and started holding Tupperware parties of his own. His natural enthusiasm and likeability led to great success, and when an officer from Tupperware Home Parties attended one of Don’s parties, he offered Don a position on the executive staff in Orlando, Florida. So off the family went to Florida, where they lived for three years, until Tupperware offered Don and Billie a distributorship just outside of Hartford, Connecticut. They lived in Newington for five years, with Billie doing the bookkeeping and Don holding assemblies. It was hard work, and in 1965, they left Tupperware and moved back to Los Angeles. They bought a house on a cul-de-sac in Monterey Park, where they would stay for nearly 50 years. Billie went back to escrow, and became so successful that she was later named President of the California Escrow Association. Don was teaching at Jordan High School at the time of the Watts Riots, so when East Los Angeles College offered him a position, he was so thrilled that he jumped in the swimming pool with his clothes on. He taught business and marketing at ELAC for almost half a century. In his spare time, he sat by the pool and graded papers or went to lunch at his favorite places. He was an enthusiastic fan of horse racing, and a $10 win at his beloved Santa Anita was cause for celebration. In 1987, he played the piano at Sharon and Mark’s wedding. Don was a remarkable man, a gentle soul who was extremely kind and unwilling to believe anything bad about anyone. Even when things became difficult as his health failed in the last few years, he remained upbeat, positive, and grateful. His lifelong faith in Christian Science was a tremendous comfort to him, and he attended prayer meetings twice a week even when he could no longer attend church. His last years were spent at Sunrise Assisted Living – first in Woodland Hills, California, and then in Henderson, Nevada – where he excelled at bingo, went on regular outings, and delighted the residents (especially the ladies) by playing the piano every day. Although Billie is struggling with dementia, Don had lunch with her every day until the very end. He will be dearly missed.