Recordpub.com - Attorney Norman Sandvoss dies at 67 Was Portage GOP leader

Every year for more than two decades, Norman Sandvoss would plan a trip for “The Tribe Warriors,” an eclectic group of lawyers, businessmen and others, centered on a Cleveland Indians baseball game.

When the Indians’ schedule came out, the Ravenna attorney would get someone in the office to get him to the Indians’ website and set to planning.

“He would just be planning these trips. He loved it. It was all first class,” said Attorney William Lentz, who shared office space with him in downtown Ravenna for 30 years.

This year’s mid-May trip was to Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The group also attended the Preakness Stakes thoroughbred race at Pimlico Race Course.

“Norm would plan the trip from the ride to the airport to the ride home,” said his friend, Garret Ferrara. “He was doing great.”

The trip proved to be the last for Mr. Sandvoss.

Mr. Sandvoss, 67, a well-known and respected Portage County attorney and former chairman of the Portage County Republican Party, died early Monday morning at Summa Akron City Hospital, where he had been a patient for several days. He had been scheduled for surgery Monday afternoon.

News of his unexpected passing stunned his friends and colleagues, who remembered Mr. Sandvoss for his upbeat, energetic nature and his congeniality.

More than six feet tall and outwardly self-confident, Mr. Sandvoss personified friendliness. He lacked affectation and was not manipulative. He saw the humor in life and laughed easily. They were qualities that in politics enabled him to transcend partisan differences, despite his many years as a GOP leader, and brought him legions of friends from both sides of the political aisle.

He possessed a fearless integrity that commanded respect. If he thought something wrong, he spoke his mind, the chips falling where they might.

His colleague, Attorney Lentz, described Mr. Sandvoss as, “an old-style attorney” who “treated law as a profession, not as a business. He had no place for lawyers who thought of it as a business,” he said. “And he believed in mentoring the younger lawyers. He was just a good guy.”

A life-long Republican, he assumed the reins of the Portage County Republican Party in 1995 when Nancy Hansford stepped down and served until May 15, 2009.

“He was by far the best (chairman) we’ve had in recent history,” said Hansford. “He was one of the kindest, most generous people I have ever known, fully devoted to his family and causes he believed in,” she said. “He never wanted to brag about what he had done, but he certainly did a great job of keeping the party going.”

Mr. Sandvoss was an old-school Republican, who wanted less government and more fiscal conservatism, but he also wanted the Republican Party to be a “big tent” organization that tolerated a broad range of opinions regarding social and religious issues.

“He served the party well and will be greatly missed, not only by fellow Republicans and Democrats alike, but by mankind in general,” according to a statement issued by the Portage County Republican Party.

Stepping down as party leader last year, he noted he came from a family of Republicans and had been a Republican “ever since I was old enough to vote and declare a party. ... I believed then, as I do now that less government involvement is better government and, be it the United States government or the person working a local store, you don’t spend money you don’t have or can’t pay back.”

As Republican chairman, Mr. Sandvoss was a member of the Portage County Board of Elections for 13 years, serving until the end of 2009. He recalled that when he joined the board, he was “pleasantly surprised to learn we park our politics at the door.” The practice continues at the elections board today.

“He was one of the best people I’ve ever met in the terms of professionalism, personality, and in his actions,” said Dennis Zavinski, the other Republican member of the four-member elections board and a fellow attorney. “In his capacity as Republican Party chairman, he always transcended politics and treated everyone equally and fairly.”

Craig Stephens, chairman of the Portage County Democratic Party, served four years with Mr. Sandvoss as a member of the elections board and described his colleague as, “forthright and always intent to ensure we had fair elections and everybody got to participate, either as a candidate or a voter.

“As chairman of the Republican Party, he was a worthy adversary. He was always honest and above board in his dealings in partisan politics. As an attorney, he was a friend and colleague,” Stephens said.

Lois Enlow, former elections board director, said his philosophy was simple: “Let as many people run and vote as possible. If we can get them on (the ballot) put ‘em on and let the people decide.”

Enlow said the board was reluctant to see him leave. “We tried to talk him out of going (off the elections board), but he gave his word, and his word was good,” she said. It is normally the practice for chairmen of the two major political parties to serve on the Board of Elections, which pays a modest stipend, so Mr. Sandvoss, after retiring as Republican chairman, stepped down from the Board of Elections to make way for the new Republican Party chairman, Andrew Manning.

Retiring from the party leadership, Mr. Sandvoss made it clear he was not retiring from the practice of law.

“I’m not ready to retire,” he said. “I enjoy being in the mix of things and the camaraderie of my fellow attorneys and the judiciary.”

Born Aug. 17, 1942 in Oak Park, Ill., Mr. Sandvoss graduated from Shawnee High School in Lima, Ohio in 1960. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and obtained his law degree in 1968 from Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law.

He came to Ravenna in June 1969, to work with the law firm of Loomis, Jones, Poland, Wilson & Griffith, one of the city’s most prestigious. After the firm dissolved, he opened his own practice in 1976, at 228 W. Main St. in Ravenna where he continued until his death.

He loved sports and was an enthusiastic fan of Ohio State and Kent State University athletics. He also was an avid tennis player, often playing in two tennis groups every week. He competed in tournaments including the Portage County Open, an annual amateur tourney for players in different age categories.

Mr. Sandvoss was active in many community organizations. He was a past president and a member of numerous boards, including the Robinson Memorial Hospital Foundation, the Portage County Public Defender Commission, the Children’s Advocacy Center and Leadership Portage County. He also served on the boards of the Portage County Red Cross and Kent Jaycees and was a member of Faith Lutheran Church in Kent.

He was chairman of Kent Charter Review Commission in 1975, and was involved in the successful effort to bring the council-manager form of government to Kent. He also served on the Kent City Board of Health.

He also served as president of the Portage County Bar Association and was honored with its first Humanitarian Award in 2003.

At its annual Lincoln Day Dinner in February, the Portage County Republican Party presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Survivors include his wife, Linda, whom he married Dec. 17, 1966. They had three children: Christina (Joe Montrone) Sandvoss Montrone, who is an attorney-at-law in Florida, Steven (deceased), and Sharon Sandvoss of North Carolina. He is also survived by his brother, Kenneth (Diane Reipenhoff) Sandvoss, and sister, Donna (Robert) Stoddard both of Lima, Ohio.

Calling hours will be 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Bissler & Sons Funeral Home in Kent. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Faith Lutheran Church with Pastor George Gaiser and Pastor Kent Wartick officiating. Private burial will be Maple Grove Cemetery in Ravenna.

Memorial contributions may be made to Faith Lutheran Church, 931 E. Main St., Kent OH 44240 or the Robinson Memorial Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box 1204, Ravenna OH 44266.