Sandra L. Gerdin, 80, Hilton Head Island, SC

December 3, 1943 - March 2, 2024

Sandra L. Gerdin, age 80 of Hilton Head Island, SC, departed this world on March 2, 2024, while asleep at her home. Funeral Services will be held at 12:00 PM on Friday, March 15, 2024, at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 12352 55th St., Princeton, MN. Pastor Shari Routh will officiate. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be at Sharon Cemetery in Princeton.

Sandra Lee was born to Richard and Katheryn (Buckingham) Peterson on December 3, 1943, in Princeton. She was the third in a family of six children and raised as the fourth-generation on the family farm in Greenbush Township, west of Long Siding. Sandy was baptized and confirmed at the West Branch Lutheran Church across the road from the family farm. After graduating from Princeton High School, she attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth for a year. In 1963 she married Duane Gerdin, and they started a family. Through a program the Australian Government had created to encourage immigration, they moved their young family to Australia in 1970; returning to the United States in 1973.

Sandra never gave up on her goal for a college degree. In 1974 Sandy started attending night school, studying a new growing field called Computer Science; ‘writing’ computer software. This led to a career with Northern States Power Company in their IT Department. She continued taking classes and achieved a B.S. Degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1987. A student at heart, she did not stop there, studying abroad in England, and then earning an MBA Degree in International Business from St. Thomas University in St. Paul in 1996. Sandy was a successful, independent, and hard-working lady who embodied the 20th century professional woman.

Retiring to a home on Hilton Head Island, SC, in 1998, she enjoyed island living, the warm climate, gardening, biking, and the beach with fresh ocean breezes. She beheld friendships with people she cared for across several continents. Above all Sandra was a caring mother, loving grandmother, doting great-grandmother, and kind to all, man and fur-friends alike.

Sandy will be missed by her children, Jeff (Melissa) Gerdin and Jennifer (Jack Rodgers) Gerdin; eight grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; sisters, Shirley Anderson; Patricia Skarohlid; and Mary Beth (Roy) Valentini; brother, Richard Peterson Jr.; and all family members and friends alike.

God’s grace has shined upon her, and today she rests peacefully in heaven with her parents; and eldest sister, Colleen Grapentin.