Roy Henry Sandstrom, 86

Roy Henry Sandstrom, M.D, 86, of Spotsylvania County, formerly of Potomac, Maryland, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, October 1, 2015 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Roy was born in Brooklyn, NY, and grew up in Westport, CT. When the Korean War broke out, he served as an army medical technician at Walter Reed under General Wallace Graham. After the war he worked at NIH in HELA cell research but left to attend medical school. He completed his residency at Johns Hopkins. He served the Silver Spring community as a physician for 54 years and during that time he was Chief of Medicine and later Chief of Staff at the Washington Adventist hospital. He also helped found Shady Grove Adventist Hospital.

Roy is survived by his loving wife of 32 years, Debbie, and his beloved sons, Daniel Sandstrom (Dottie) and Randall Sandstrom as well as grandsons Tyler Sandstrom and Nicholas Sandstrom. He also leaves behind loving nieces and nephews and many close and wonderful friends. He was preceded in death by his brother Don and his sister Dorothy as well as parents Ruth and Siegfried Sandstrom.

Roy will be remembered for his love of life, his affectionate nature, and his sense of adventure. He once flew a small plane from Gaithersburg, MD to Peru and back. He also flew a single engine plane across the Atlantic Ocean delivering it to missionaries in Africa. He returned to military service in the late 1970s as a Flight Surgeon in the Air Force Reserve. Roy loved music and played the trumpet and the euphonium, often performing in area churches.

A service will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, October 12 at Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Donation Processing Center, The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014 or Mary Washington Hospice, 5012 Southpoint Pkwy, Fredericksburg, VA 22401.