Barbara Sanford Lindsay

Barbara Sanford Lindsay, age 99, passed away Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at her residence in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is survived by daughters Barbara (Leonard) Holajter of Munster, IN, Laurie (Dennis) Hoyt of Grand Rapids, MI and Darcy (Ron) McMillan of Houston, TX; 6 grandchildren Jason (April) Holajter, Grant Holajter, Lindsay (Ben) Labas, Chad (Kayla) Holajter, Christina (John Peplinski) Hoyt, and Jennifer (David) Olson; and 15 great-grandchildren Lillian Holajter, Jackson Holajter, Sawyer Holajter, Violet Labas, Evan Labas, Kendall Holajter, Charlotte Holajter, Coralynn Holajter, Kambree Holajter, Winona Peplinski, Cameron Olson, Ava Olson, Havana Olson, Alexandra Olson, and Annika Olson, 3 nieces and 2 nephews. She is preceded in death by her loving husband, Kenneth Elwood Lindsay, sister Priscilla Davis and niece Linda (Davis) Franco.

Barbara was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on December 16, 1923, to John McKinley Sanford and Lucille Wolf Sanford. She attended Wiley High School, Indiana State University, Southern Methodist University and Stanford University and majored in English and Communications. At Stanford, Barbara studied radio and was selected to portray “Stanford Sadie” on air. She also had the coveted role of “Story Princess of the Music Box” when she worked at WBOW in Terre Haute. Barbara’s proudest achievement was teaching English grammar and literature at DePauw University to the GIs returning from WWII.

In May of 1950, Barbara married the love of her life Kenneth Elwood Lindsay, in Terre Haute, Indiana. By Ken’s side as he built his career, Barbara found herself making a home for their growing family at various locations throughout the Midwest starting in Terre Haute and including Charleston, WV, Bay Village, OH, and Northbrook, IL. In 1985 she and Ken retired and moved to Schererville, IN, where she resided until 2022. She was entirely devoted to her husband, children and their families, which remained the center of her life.

With Ken she traveled the world. An avid golfer, she played at many famous courses including the Old Course at St. Andrews, in Scotland, and Pebble Beach. In her mid-80’s, Barbara visited her favorite city, Paris, one last time with two of her grandchildren. Her most cherished travel memory was when she sailed across the Mediterranean Sea with Ken on the Sea Cloud, the yacht formerly owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post.

When not traveling, she was gardening, reading, cooking, painting and rooting for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, and Chicago Bulls, as well as Purdue football and basketball teams. She and Ken doted on their grandchildren and sent them to week-long, overnight tennis camps and enjoyed extended family trips to Colorado, Kentucky Lake, McCormick’s Creek and Gaston, Arkansas. Barbara loved all dogs, but especially Joey “short for Josephine”, her ever faithful companion in her later life.

Barbara was a watercolor artist. She took classes but was mainly self-taught, and her paintings hang in homes across the United States. She loved to write and receive letters and wrote handwritten ones to her loved ones her entire life. With the advent of the computer, she sent daily emails to family and friends. At 98, the computer became too complicated for her, and she resumed writing letters by hand. Despite her large family, she always made time for everyone, kept up with daily events and made sure no birthdays were missed.

Barbara relished her roles as Ma, Grandma and GG, and was a generous, supportive, loving matriarch to all. She will live forever in our hearts. Barbara will be interred with Ken in a private family ceremony on May 27th, at Highland Lawn Cemetery, in Terre Haute, IN, in the Wolf/Sanford family plot.