WILMINGTON — Sandra Ratcliff Caswell, 89, of Wilmington, NC, died on Saturday April 26,2025, after a lengthy decline suffering with Lewy Body Dementia. Sandy was born on April 14, 1936 in Chicago, IL, to Elwood G. Ratcliff and Kathryn Gunderson.
She grew up in River Forest, a suburb of Chicago, in the same community that her Norwegian immigrant great grandfather, Severt Tobias Gunderson, helped to develop a half-century before. Sandy attended Oak Park-River Forest High School, where she excelled academically and socially. She chose to attend Duke University, where she earned a B.A. degree in English, obtained her elementary teaching certification and met the love of her life, Fred W. Caswell.
She and Fred were wed on August 30, 1958 and enjoyed a remarkable 61 year adventure through Fred’s 30 plus year career with Proctor & Gamble, followed by an energetic “retirement,” until his passing in 2019. Her own career as a Kindergarten teacher lasted only 3 months, as she became pregnant with the first of their three children shortly into what might have become an illustrious career in elementary education. Instead she became an incredible helpmate to Fred, a world class mother to Donna, Bob and Kathryn, as well as a remarkable grandmother, great grandmother and caring friend to countless individuals.
Fred’s rapid career ascent with P & G eventually took them to Cincinnati, a place that Sandy loved and where she began to find her own opportunities to serve as a prayer Intercessor in the healing ministry at St. Thomas Episcopal Church and through Queen City Contact, where she manned the call center for those in the midst of crisis, perhaps needing a listening ear, a kind and encouraging word or a prayer.
Sandy expressed later in life that she would have been content to live out her days in Cincinnati; but more challenging and adventurous opportunities awaited, as she and Fred headed overseas, first to Japan and later Hong Kong, helping to expand P & G’s footprint in Asia and the Pacific Rim. She would often accompany Fred in his jaunts around the Far East, foretelling in many ways the active “retirement” that would follow.
Upon their retirement, Sandy and Fred made their principal residence Hilton Head Island, but also enjoyed homes at Lake Toxaway in the NC mountains, Boca Grande on the Gulf Coast and a shared flat in London, England.
Over the course of three decades, they managed to visit all 50 states and over 100 countries. They hiked over a dozen of the Great Treks worldwide, including the Milford Trak in New Zealand, a circumnavigation of Mont Blanc, Tierra del Fuego in Patagonia and even the formidable Himalayas in Nepal.
When “home,” she was very active at St. Luke’s Church through the Intercessors prayer ministry and the Adult Choir. She and Fred also enjoyed their leadership roles with the Hilton Head Symphony and especially with the International Piano Competition.
In her spare time, Sandy enjoyed reading, listening to music, sewing and especially knitting. It was said of her that she could manage to knit two or three rows of a scarf or sweater before a long red light could turn to green. Over her lifetime, she gifted many dozens of sweaters, scarves and prayer shawls to family, friends and even strangers. She would pray for the person while knitting, and then think of her gifted sweater as a means of “embracing” her loved one from afar.
In addition to her three children, Donna Edwards and husband Carl, Robert Caswell and wife Emma and Kathryn Shaheen and husband TJ, Sandy is survived by 15 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.
Sandy was a kind, humble and selfless spirit who when she offered encouragement and prayer, faithfully delivered both, often with an “on the spot” prayer, followed up by a hand-written card or letter. In her final months and years, before the Parkinsons-like Lewy Body Dementia robbed her of her sharp mind and nimble body, she would speak of her immeasurable gratitude for the incredible life with which she had been blessed. It might have been said of her husband Fred that “he could light up a room;” but of Sandy, it could certainly have been said, that she was the one who “lit up” when you walked in. Simply put, she was so grateful for the “long walk” she got to share with each one of us.
A memorial service is being planned for early August.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be sent to Lower Cape Fear LifeCare or to St Luke’s Anglican Church, Hilton Head Island, SC.
