Sigmund G. and Darlyce J. Sandrock Memorial Scholarship

Sigmund G. and Darlyce J. Sandrock Memorial Scholarship

Sigmund G. Sandrock served as a faithful pastor of the American Lutheran Church (ALC) for 36 years before his death in 1979. He and his wife Darlyce had five children—four daughters and a son.

Prior to serving in parish ministries in Santa Maria and Santa Monica, Pastor Sandrock was what was known as a “mission developer.” Perhaps his most adventurous mission assignment was the seven years he and Darlyce spent in the Bahamas, where they started and nurtured the islands’ very first Lutheran church. Darlyce shared her husband’s devotion to the church. After her husband’s death, she worked for eight years in the Southern California American Lutheran Church office as administrative assistant to two bishops—Dr. Gaylerd Falde and Dr. Nelson Trout. She later moved to San Francisco to be closer to her daughter Kathy in Novato and he daughter Pamela in San Francisco.

Norman “Ned” Dean came into the Sandrock family when he married Kathy Sandrock, his high school sweetheart. They lived most of their married life (35 years) in Northern California where they raised their three sons. Ned was an active churchman who admired his father-in-law greatly. He was also a CPA and an effective businessman, who held several top positions with corporations such as Hills Bros. Coffee, Round Table Pizza and Nestle Foods. He rounded out his career as chairman and CEO of The Pacific Bank in San Francisco. As CLU grew and developed a presence in Northern California, Ned came into view as a potential board member. He served on the board of regents from 1985 to 1993 and on the president’s advisory council from 1999 to 2000. Accountability was Ned’s byword, both personally and professionally.

Ned and Kathy Dean were eager to see the University grow and in 1989 began thinking about creating a scholarship. It took two years for the idea to develop into a clear plan, and in 1991 the Sigmund G. Sandrock Memorial Scholarship was brought into being. It was a tribute to Pastor Sandrock’s exemplary service to the church. Fittingly, it was placed within an academic institution whose mission was to serve the church through its graduates. In 2018, Darlyce’s name was added to the scholarship, following her passing.

From the start, the Sigmund G. and Darlyce J. Sandrock Memorial Scholarship was designed as a renewable scholarship for undergraduate students who are children of pastors or missionaries. The recipient must maintain a grade point average of 3.0 in order to retain the award. The Deans later expanded the criteria to include “children of any employee of the Church, either local or national.” One of the first recipients of the scholarship was a member of the same church in Santa Maria where Pastor Sandrock had served. The warm tribute to Pastor Sandrock continues to live on through this scholarship and its many current and future recipients.