Joan Marie Sandager

SANDAGER, Joan Marie Wold Ranta, age 90, loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully into the loving arms of her Heavenly Father on November 13, 2021.
Joanne was born October 7, 1931 in Duluth, MN, to Edward and Ragnhild Wold, who were immigrants from Norway. Shortly after her birth, her mother passed away and she went to live with her Aunt Lena and Uncle Olaf, where she instantly gained 6 sisters and a brother. As a young girl, Joan enjoyed the snowy Minnesota winters and became an avid ice skater and skier. Some of her fondest memories are from the summers she spent working at a resort in northern Wisconsin during her college breaks. She graduated from the University of Minnesota where she met and married Joseph S. Ranta, to whom she was married for 38 years until his death in 1994. She is survived by their three children: Cheryl (Mac) Bronson; Diane (Joe) Cartolano; and Kevin (Karen) Ranta.
Joanne was so proud of, and beloved by, her eight grandchildren: Evan (Kelly), Eric (Melinda), Andrew, Brooke, Isabella (Abel), Madison, Kylie Jo and Josie. She was also blessed with four great grandchildren: Sutton, Ansel, Hughes and Sterling.
After raising her family, she went to work for Kettering City Schools as a personnel specialist and worked there for 30-plus years until retiring when she was 80. And even then, she wanted to keep working!
Joanne loved people and she never knew a stranger. She was smart, funny, feisty, strong (but gentle) and ever the optimist. There was always a smile on her face, she never complained, loved putting others first and had a patient and forgiving spirit. She was generous to a fault and was fiercely proud of her Norwegian heritage (except for the consumption of fish!) and she never hesitated to say so. She was a member of Sugarcreek Presbyterian Church and actively involved with Kettering Women’s Optimist Club, The American Legion and Chi Omega sorority.
She is preceded in death by her parents and three brothers, Robert, Eugene and Clifford and husbands, Joseph Ranta and Arnold Sandager.
Visitation will be Sunday, November 28 from 3:00 PM -5:00 PM at Routsong Funeral Home: 2100 E. Stroop Rd., Kettering, Ohio 45429. A Celebration of Life will be held on Monday, November 29 at 11:00 AM at Sugarcreek Presbyterian Church: 4417 Bigger Rd, Kettering, Ohio 45440. A reception with light refreshments will follow.
If you would like, please wear something BLUE to honor Joanne with her favorite color.
Joanne loved animals, especially her 2 dogs, Teddy and Sophie, so in lieu of customary remembrances the family requests, with gratitude, that memorial contributions be directed to SICSA of Dayton at: https://www.sicsa.org/give.
We are forever grateful for the loving care given to Joanne by the staff at Spring Arbor of Salisbury in Virginia and At Home Hospice Care.
Joanne’s joyful presence will be greatly missed by all who knew her, but her legacy and example of “staying positive”, even in the midst of difficulty, is a humbling reminder for all of us to strive to do the same.