Sandstrom served three 20-year federal careers, protected the president | Passages
Published 3:12 pm Thursday, August 20, 2015
POULSBO — Arthur C. Sandstrom, a Poulsbo native who went on to careers in the Air Force, the Defense Investigative Service, and a stint in the president’s security detail, died July 30 in Dallas, Texas. He was 81 and had battled brain cancer.
A celebration of his life is scheduled for 2 p.m. Aug. 22 at Flower Mound United Methodist Church, 3950 Bruton Orand Blvd., Flower Mound, Texas. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the church Pipe Organ Fund; or to the Neuro-Oncology Research Fund, Baylor Health Care System Foundation, 3600 Gaston Ave., Suite 100, Dallas, Texas 75246.
Sandstrom was born on Dec. 30, 1933 in Poulsbo and was raised by his great-grandmother in a four-generational home, according to the mortuary (www.mulkeymason.com). He predominately spoke Norwegian until starting elementary school.
He joined the Army and served for 10 years in Nome, Alaska. For “the convenience of the government,” he transferred to the Air Force, which had taken over the communication station where he worked as a radio and teletype operator and cryptologist. He retired from the military after 21 years of service, having added Vietnam and Germany to his duty stations.
He served briefly in the CIA on presidential security detail, then began a second 20-year federal career as an industrial security specialist for the Defense Investigative Service (now the Defense Security Service).
After retiring again from federal service, he began a third 20-year career: as a special investigator for many of the federal “alphabet soup” investigative and law enforcement agencies. His territory was comprised of the four counties surrounding Dallas.
He finally retired on May 15 after he was diagnosed with cancer.
According to his online obituary: “His work reflected both his talent and a very high standard consistently admired by his many colleagues and associates. Often he was tapped to mentor new agents as they learned their way through government security jungles.”
According to his obituary, he was a voracious reader, writer and storyteller; a master of the English, German and Norwegian languages; was well-versed in Latin; and had an IQ of 151. He was a member of Mensa and Intertel.
He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Dr. Jeannine Sandstrom; children, Robert Sandstrom (Patricia) of Republic, Missouri; Dawn Mobley (David) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and David Sandstrom of Midwest City, Oklahoma; six grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.
In the obituary, the family extended “its most heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all the friends, clergy and neighbors who have stopped by, brought food, flowers and gifts, called, texted, or written letters and just been there with us. The family would also like to thank the wonderful nurses and staff of Ardent Hospice. Without question, these gestures from all have made this time much more bearable.”
