Obituary of Dellis Sandquist

Dellis J. Sandquist, 92, of Cambridge passed away on Friday, October 4, 2013 at the Cambridge Medical Center. Dellis John Sandquist was born September 17, 1921, in Cambridge Township to Clifford and Myrtle (Anderson) Sandquist, the second of four boys. As a boy, he grew up just down the road from his future wife, Doris E. Johnson, whose family shared many social events with his family. They married in May 1946 and had four children. Prior to marriage, Dellis and two uncles, drove to California to find work but WWII erupted so they returned to Cambridge to enlist in the service, but he was denied enlistment due to eczema. Shortly after marriage, he and his wife struck off for Washington State to work with an uncle in the sawmills, but within six months, the urge to farm sent them back to Cambridge, where he remained all his life. Farming was his life, his passion and his livelihood. He started farming with a team of horses and a small herd of Holstein cows and the simple equipment available at the time, on a farm homesteaded by the Wallin family east of Cambridge. As time went on he purchased his first new Farmall tractor which remains in the family to this day, and then a second and a third as his children grew big enough to reach the pedals to help with the field work. He maintained his patience through all the tangles his children found themselves in - fences in the way, wet spots that bogged down many a field trip, and field corners not properly judged causing no way to back out by the inexperienced kid. He explained and described ways to avoid such predicaments, but several of the lessons required many refresher courses for his kids who were eager to learn but not so good at remembering. He dabbled with potato farming; too many trips to the St. Paul Farmer's Market, pig farming (too messy) and chickens (eggs everywhere around the farm) and finally settled into only Holstein dairy and crop farming until the mid-70's when he tried beef animals, but he became too attached to them so they had to go too. He continued with crop farming and distribution of Pioneer Seeds until 2000 when he fully retired from farming and concentrated more on his expanding collection of red tractors, time spent at Herman's Bakery for the news and facts of the day, and more and more card games with friends and family. He loved straight rows of planted crops, driving his combine, playing and watching baseball, playing cards, deer hunting and fishing, and laughing, and was overall into having fun in life. And he enjoyed the antics of his ever growing family, especially the funny incidents and good practical jokes. As he loved his family, they too loved his fun spirit and laughter that was always present. Dellis is survived by his wife, Doris, and four children in the Cambridge area Kathy Stauber, Barb Tompkins, Fred Sandquist (Gail), and Jeff Sandquist (Julie); 8 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, 3 step-grandchildren and 4 step-great grandchildren; brother Jim of Fridley, sister-in-law Mildred (Russell) Myrom of California, special "cousin" Dr. Tom (Elaine) Coleman of Cambridge, as well as numerous other relatives and friends. .Memorials are preferred to Cambridge-Isanti Dollars for Scholars.