[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 10738-10739]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO BERT SANDBERG

 Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
following two tributes honoring the life of the late Bert Sandberg--
steadfast businessman, World War II veteran, and long-time friend of 
the city of St. Paul--be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Star Tribune, Apr. 29, 2003]

                        Tribute to Bert Sandberg

                           (By Tony Kennedy)

       He claimed to have eaten the first steak served at 
     Mancini's Char House and in 1977 he received and award for 
     ridding St. Paul streets of Dutch Elm diseases.
       A building contractor with major credits in downtown St. 
     Paul, Bert Sandberg also was known for his labor on the 
     basketball court, playing tenaciously at the St. Paul 
     Athletic Club and other gyms until he was 75 years old.
       The decorated World War II veteran and acclaimed prep 
     athlete from Mechanic Arts High School died Sunday of liver 
     cancer. He was 77. Although he was not in the public 
     spotlight, Sandberg was politically well-connected and kept a 
     running friendship with the city's mayors, occasionally 
     offering them advice on how to improve the Capital City.
       ``There's no such thing as having just a moment with 
     Bert,'' St. Paul Deputy Mayor Dennis Flaherty said last week. 
     ``He loves to tell stories.
       Flaherty said Sandberg never asked the city for anything, 
     but often was ``below the radar'' helping private citizens 
     and supporting various city initiatives. Among other things, 
     he was a supporter of the St. Paul Winter Carnival.
       Sandberg's Swedish immigrant parents raised him in a house 
     on the corner of 9th and Wacouta Sts. in an area of downtown 
     St. Paul now known as Lowertown. He married Carol Ziniel of 
     St. Paul in 1952 and moved to Mendota Heights, where they 
     raised one boy and two girls. But Sandberg never sold the lot 
     where he grew up.
       ``He's a guy who sincerely loves St. Paul,'' Flaherty said.
       Sandberg's daughter, Leslie a press secretary for state 
     Attorney General Mike Hatch, said her dad was appropriately 
     featured in a history of Minnesota members of the so-called 
     Greatest Generation that came of age during the 1930s and 
     '40s, survived the Great Depression and World War II and 
     build the foundation for modern-day America.
       After graduating from Mechanic Arts High School in 1943, he 
     enlisted in the Navy and served three years in the South 
     Pacific during World War II. Sandberg worked on a Landing 
     Ship Tank, or LST boat, that was used to deploy troops and 
     equipment on foreign shores. He was awarded a Silver Star and 
     five Bronze Stars, his daughter said.
       Sandberg had finished near the bottom of his class at 
     Mechanic Arts, but when he returned from war he wiggled his 
     way in to Augsburg College. He not only graduated, but he 
     later returned to serve on the school's Board of Regents from 
     1968-1980.
       ``His focus was to encourage the college to take a chance 
     on students who otherwise might not make it in,'' Leslie 
     Sandberg said.
       Her father was drafted after college to play football for 
     the Philadelphia Eagles, but he waived the opportunity and 
     instead joined his father's business, St. Paul-based N.H. 
     Sandberg Erection Co. Sandberg started at the firm as an 
     ironworker, but he eventually took over the company and 
     expanded it to include worldwide crane and heavy equipment 
     rentals.
       ``My dad traveled all over the world and he'd say, `St. 
     Paul is the best city. Why would you want to live anywhere 
     else?''' Leslie Sandberg said.
       The firm's downtown St. Paul building credits include the 
     federal courthouse, the St. Paul Hilton Hotel (now the 
     Radisson Riverfront), the Osborn Building, the Northwestern 
     Bell Telephone Building and many skyways.
       When George Latimer was mayor, Sandberg was given an award 
     for quickly and efficiently removing diseased elm trees from 
     all over the city. And in 1999, when the St. Paul City 
     Conference celebrated its centennial as a high school 
     athletic conference, Sandberg was chosen as the best athlete 
     from 1943. At Mechanic Arts he was a baseball player, a 
     speedster in track and a standout in basketball and football.
       Leslie Sandberg said her father's list of achievements 
     wouldn't be complete without a mention of his part as an 
     extra in the movie ``Might Ducks III.'' He is pictured in the 
     movie as a counter patron at Mickey's Diner.
       ``He just loved that,'' his daughter Leslie said. ``He 
     never cashed his paycheck.''
       Sandberg, who was born in St. Paul on July 28, 1925, is 
     survived by his wife, Carol; daughters Leslie of Mendota 
     Heights and Susan of Los Angeles; and son Nels of 
     Philadelphia. Services are pending.
                                  ____


                [From the Pioneer Press, Apr. 30, 2003]

       Bert Sandberg, who helped build much of the modern skyline 
     of St. Paul and was one of the city's biggest boosters, died 
     Sunday of liver cancer at his home in Mendota Heights. He was 
     77.
       Sandberg was owner of Sandberg Erection Co., which built 
     the steel foundation for the federal courts building, the 
     Marshall Field's store, the St. Paul Radisson Riverfront 
     Hotel, the Ecolab Building, a Qwest Building, the First 
     National Bank Building, the former West Publishing Building 
     and most of the city's skyways.
       ``He and his company were involved in probably all of the 
     major buildings in downtown St. Paul,'' said Dennis Flaherty, 
     deputy mayor. ``He was full of energy and excitement for St. 
     Paul. Every time he'd see me, he'd offer a new suggestion.''
       One of Sandberg's daughters, Leslie, said her father loved 
     to take the family on a drive when the children were young. 
     He would point at various buildings and say, ``You know what? 
     We built that.''
       Sandberg was a friend of many St. Paul mayors over the 
     years, including George Latimer, Norm Coleman and Randy 
     Kelly.
       ``My father was a character,'' Leslie Sandberg said. ``He 
     knew everybody.''
       Sandberg got a role as an extra in the ``Mighty Ducks III'' 
     movie when the director, Steven Brill, spotted Sandberg 
     golfing at the Town and Country Club and the two men began a 
     conversation. Brill recognized a good character and told 
     Sandberg not to shave, and Sandberg portrayed a local at a 
     scene in Mickey's Diner.
       In 1990, Gov. Rudy Perpich appointed Sandberg as a 
     representative of the city of St. Paul to meet with Mikhail 
     Gorbachev, then president of the Soviet Union, who was 
     visiting Minnesota.
       Sandberg was a member of the Board of Regents at Augsburg 
     College in Minneapolis from 1968 to 1980 and was a longtime 
     member of the St. Paul Athletic Club.
       An outstanding athlete, he once had an offer to play 
     professional football but decided he was too small. He played 
     basketball twice a week until he was 75.
       ``He had a great set shot,'' Leslie Sandberg said.
       He used cranes and chain saws to remove dying elm trees on 
     Summit Avenue, and Mayor Latimer presented him with an award 
     in 1977 for helping battle the scourge of Dutch elm disease.

[[Page 10739]]

       He served with the Navy in the South Pacific during World 
     War II.
       In addition to daughter Leslie, Sandberg is survived by his 
     wife, Carol, Mendota Heights; daughter Susan, Los Angeles, 
     and son Nels, Philadelphia.
       Visitation is from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at O'Halloran and 
     Murphy Funeral Home in St. Paul. The funeral is at 10:30 a.m. 
     Monday at Salem Lutheran Church in West St. Paul with burial 
     at Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Minneapolis.

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