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Gary Sandman '69 Endowment Supports GC Drama
For 50 years, Gary Sandman '69 talked about how much he loved the drama club at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. It defined his high school experience.
To support the program he loved, Sandman, who passed away in 2020, made a gift through his living trust that will benefit GC's drama department in perpetuity.
"Gary and I were members of the drama club during our four years at Good Counsel. He had a special relationship with the club all four years of high school," says his friend, Andy Johnson '69.
Over the next four years, both were active in all of the school's drama productions, working on production and stage lighting. Their freshman year, 1965-66, the department produced its first full musical, which was performed in the gym. "We didn't have a theater or even a stage," Johnson recalls, so drama club members built a portable stage.
"The stage crew was a special team. You had to audition," Johnson says. "Try-outs required running around the gym as quietly as possible. Anyone who 'clunked' was cut. The level of dedication the crew showed was impressive."
Sandman served as technical director during his senior year. "That experience was something Gary always looked back on with pride," Johnson says.
The pair's friendship lasted for the next 55 years, as schoolmates at University of Maryland, and even when the two lived on opposite coasts.
Sandman became a pioneer in the integrative wellness industry, working for over 30 years to help integrate natural and complementary medicine. The tall, spiritual man loved movies and ballroom dancing. In the late 90s, he returned to Maryland. Johnson also moved back in the 2000s and the friends enjoyed getting together more often.
Sadly, Sandman began showing signs of early onset dementia in his early 60s. He asked Johnson to serve as the administrator of his trust fund, in which he specified that he wanted a portion of his funds to go to Good Counsel for the enrichment of the drama program.
Sandman passed away in April 2020. Today, his generosity is helping to support students in the GC drama program through an endowed gift.
"He was happy to give back to something he cared about so much," Johnson says.
If you would like to learn more about how you can support Good Counsel with a gift through your estate, please contact Jessica Laird, Executive Director of Advancement, at [email protected] or 240-283-3384.
