Sandra Louise Creitz was born in 1940 in Pennsylvania, the daughter of Lewis Alfred and Helen Marie (Widmaier) Creitz. In 1950, Lewis, Helen, Sandra and her older sister Dawn were living in Saint Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida, where Lewis was a barber. The 1957 Northeast High School yearbook showed that Sandra (who had signed her name “Sandy” over her picture in the uploaded yearbook on Ancestry.com) was the president of the junior class, a member of the National Honor Society, the varsity volleyball team, the Girls’ Athletic Association and of the Keyettes (a service organization affiliated with Kiwanis International). In 1958, Sandra was a senior Northeast High School in Saint Petersburg. Sandra was married in 1960 to Larry Jon Bates in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
The Orlando Sentinel, 18 September 1960. “Sandra Louise Creitz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Alfred Creitz, St. Petersburg, and Larry Jon Bates, son of Mr. and Mrs. John P. Bates, Sanford, were married yesterday at 4 p.m. in St. Peters Episcopal Church, St. Petersburg. The Rev. Charles F. Langlands officiated. The bride wore a gown of rosepoint over layers of tulle and bridal taffeta. Her fingertip veil of English silk illusion was attached to a queen’s crown of latticed seed pearls and paillettes. She carried a white Bible topped with small orchids, with streamers of orange blossoms.”
In 1962, Sandra Creitz Bates was a senior at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, where she had nearly finished her Bachelor of Science in social studies and education. Sandra and Larry were divorced in 1964. In 1966, Sandra (using her maiden name Creitz) was a teacher in the social studies department at Saint Petersburg High School in Saint Petersburg. In 1967, Sandra was a teacher in the social studies department at Lakewood High School in Saint Petersburg. At some point before 1988, Sandra earned her Master of Arts in history at Appalachian State University.
Latrobe (PA) Bulletin, 22 July 1967. “Bridge Club Winners Listed. …Runner-up was the team of Mrs. Cyril Logue of Ebensburg and Miss Sandra Creitz of Florida.”
Sandra was married about 1967 to John “Jack” Michael Logue, also a native of Pennsylvania and a graduate of Cambria High School in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. (The above article indicates that she was playing bridge with John’s mother in 1967.) Jack and Sandra had two sons, John and Andrew. Sandra’s mother passed away in 1979.
Tampa Bay Times, 20 August 1979. “Creitz, Mrs. Helen M., of 548 First St. N, died Sunday (Aug. 19, 1979). She came here 32 years ago from her native Philadelphia and was a member of the American Contract Bridge League and St. Peter’s Episcopal Cathedral. Survivors include her husband, Lewis; two daughters, Dawn Blake, St. Petersburg, and Sandra Logue, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; two sisters, Mildred Tottser and Emma McLaughlin of Philadelphia, and five grandchildren. John S. Rhodes, East Chapel.”
When Jack Logue’s father died in 1981, Jack and Sandra were living in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Sandra’s father passed away in 1983.
Tampa Bay Times, 20 January 1983. “Creitz, Lewis A., of 548 First St. N, died Wednesday (Jan. 19, 1983). Born in Pennsylvania, he came here in 1949 from Philadelphia, where he was a cosmetologist, a member of Hamilton Masonic Lodge 274 F&AM, Benjamin Franklin Consistory and the Lulu Shrine. Locally he was former owner of a beauty shop. He was an Episcopalian. Survivors include two daughters, Dawn C. Blake, St. Petersburg, and Sandra L. Logue, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; a brother Charles M., Denver; a sister Pauline Cleaves, Vero Beach; five grandchildren, and a great-grandchild. National Cremation Society.”
I met Mrs. Logue in the fall of 1988, when she was my sophomore Global Studies teacher. It wasn’t so much a world history course – it was more of a “how did we get in today’s situation” course, which in the late 1980s included the cold war. We studied current events daily, we talked about religion, geography, economics, history, civics and lots more. Mrs. Logue was a sympathetic, kind and good teacher and in her class was really the first time I felt she the teacher was treating everyone equally. She didn’t expect more from me in particular because of my reputation as an honor student; I think we all really believed she saw us and our points of view all as equally valuable – and she expected us to respect each other that way as well. Without really talking about it (as was increasingly popular among teachers in those days), she expanded our minds and sharpened our critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
The social studies department in our high school was relegated to the seven portables behind the school building; Mrs. Logue’s “room” was near the middle of the seven. None of them was handicap accessible, which I believe became an issue when our district was seeking North Central accreditation before I graduated. They all had little porches and were only accessible by climbing four or five steps. In the winter, most of us would have to take coats out there so as not to freeze to death in the few minutes we would be outside. The portables were heated, but not air conditioned, and they weren’t insulated very well if at all. They frankly weren’t constructed very well at all, either – the floors might slant oddly, and the walls would creak in a breeze or if someone moved from one side of the room to the other. In some of them the electricity was slightly off, so the overhead lights would flicker or go off completely and then come back on without warning. None of them had restrooms, so if you needed the restroom, you’d have to go back into the school building. It was a weird time.
When the news came over the public address system that our friend Chris had been killed (in what the newspapers insisted on calling a “freak accident”), some of us, his friends, were in Mrs. Logue’s class. Mrs. Logue allowed those of us who wanted to leave class, to gather with others of his friends in the auditorium. I didn’t know Chris very well, but well enough to be shaken by his loss. Rather than insist we stay in class or write hall passes for everyone, which some of the other teachers did, Mrs. Logue just waved us on, sympathetically allowing us to try to cope however we thought best at the time.
Jack and Sandra were divorced. Jack was married again and passed away in 2024.
Amory Funeral Home, Yorktown, VA. “John Michael (Jack) Logue, 82, passed away peacefully on Monday, January 8, 2024 at his home in Yorktown, VA. Jack was born in Ebensburg, PA on April 2, 1941 to the late Cyril and Elizabeth (Blair) Logue. Jack claimed he was born a day earlier, but his mother refused to have a child born on April Fools’ Day. Jack served in the Army from 1963-1967 and was proud to have served as a First Lieutenant and Forward Observer in the 1st Air Cavalry during the Vietnam War. Jack earned a BS in civil engineering from Carnegie Tech and a MS in civil engineering from Carnegie Mellon. He had a long, successful career in civil/structural engineering, construction, and project management. Jack retired in 2002 and spent his retirement renovating his home on Chisman Creek, VA, where he also made sure the squirrels and birds were well fed. Jack was an ardent follower of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his grandchildren’s adventures.
Jack is survived by his wife Ginny (Mary); sons John (Sheryl) Logue and Andrew (Christy) Logue; stepchildren James (Alison) Grace, Elizabeth (Anthony Pinto) Grace, and Daniel (Caitlin) Grace; and 8 grandchildren (Adam Logue, Nolan Logue, Brenna Logue, Keenan Logue, James Grace, Josephine Grace, Eleanor Grace, and Charles Pinto). He is preceded in death by his parents, and his siblings Patsy Jones, Robert Logue, and Ann Logue.
Services and celebrations are being planned for a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to a veterans’ organization.”
I believe Sandra Logue, aged about 85, is living in Waterford, Michigan. Her smile is still probably as bright as I remember.
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