Sandra “Sandy” Carlberg, of Montgomery, passed away at Mayo Clinic Health System in New Prague on November 1, 2026, at the age of 89. Sandy was born on April 8, 1937, to Howard and Esther (Mahoney) Verrips in Boyden, Iowa. She graduated from Boyden High School and the University of Northern Iowa Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She taught school in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Northern Iowa. She met Don Carlberg, both young teachers, when they were set up on a blind date. They were united in marriage on August 16, 1958, in Boyden with her students also in attendance.
Sandy was an only child, so she wanted to have a large family of her own and she left teaching to raise her five children. She would later return to the workforce well-known as the friendly cashier at Jerry’s Foods in New Prague for many years and later as an invaluable member of McMahon’s Snyder Drug until her retirement.
She loved watching all of her children and grandchildren excel in sports and activities and she and Don rarely missed an event. They were often the first spectators in the stands joking they liked to arrive even before the lights were turned on at the facility. One special highlight was flying out to Oregon when she was 80 to watch her grandson play football for the Ducks at Autzen Stadium. Sandy was an avid reader and a regular at the library. She loved listening to music and in particular, the University of Minnesota Marching Band, attending many concerts and performances. She was truly a genuinely kind person with a smile for everyone and a heartfelt compliment or encouraging words at the ready. She had an abundance of patience and practical advice for life’s challenges. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Le Sueur until it closed.
She is deeply missed by her children, Lisa Carlberg of Montgomery, David (Natalie) Carlberg of Silver Lake, WA, Susan (John) Rynda of Montgomery; Daniel Carlberg of Montgomery and Laura (Brian) Wachholz of Norwood Young America; six grandsons, Jackson (Brianne) and Carter (Melissa) Rynda; Hunter and Drayton (Veronica) Carlberg and Brady and Aiden Wachholz and one granddaughter, Brittany Archila and two great-grandsons, Parker Melius, Jr. and Drayton A. Carlberg.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Don Carlberg, who passed in 2015.
Funeral arrangements are with Boldt Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Faribault, and a private family service is being planned at St. John’s Cemetery, rural Montgomery.