Sandra E. Giltz

In the heart of Minnesota’s Iron Range, Sandy grew up surrounded by the love of family, music, and the traditions of her Finnish heritage and Lutheran faith. Her childhood in Cherry was filled with aunts, uncles and cousins, who honed her funny bone and watched her grow into the graceful woman she would become. Sandy attended Suomi College in Hancock, Michigan, where she excelled as an honor student and had the adventure of a lifetime working at Glacier National Park. It was at Suomi that Sandy met Harry, a dashing fellow student who called her “Lumipallo” or “snowball” in Finnish, and asked her to marry him.

They moved to Ohio, built a house and raised a family. A favorite pastime was sailing their small boat on Lake Erie - with three youngsters, a dog and often gale force winds. A special memory was of their family sailing trip from Cleveland to Mackinac Island during the summer of 1979. A talented singer, Sandy joined the Canton Civic Opera (later VOCI) and in 1969 landed the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. She went on to perform with them for over the next 50 years. Highlights included two overseas tours and a performance at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington, DC in 2015.

As her children grew older, Sandy joined the Canton Garden Club and worked part time as a book keeper for Giltz & Associates. Weekends were often spent on Middle Bass Island where she and Harry enjoyed time with family and many cherished friends. Along the way came beautiful grandchildren and Sandy made it a point to attend as many tennis matches, lacrosse games and ballet recitals as she could. Throughout her journey, Sandy always had “sisu,” a Finnish word meaning courage, resilience and integrity.

She died peacefully at home on July 7 and was preceded in death by her parents, Einar and Bertha Tamminen and brother, Howard Tamminen. She is survived by her husband, Harry Giltz; her sister, Lois (Tom) Long; her children, Alaina, Harry (Amy) and Grant (Pam) Giltz; and grandchildren, Kendal, Carter, Ella, Kaitlyn and Madison.

Sandy and her family are grateful for the exceptional care and compassion she received from Drs. Alok Bhagat and John Westerbeck, Tiffany and Eileen Good from Aultman Hospital, as well as Megan Nigro, Katie Hilbert and Liz Reiner Herscher

A celebration of life will be held at St. Stephen Martyr Lutheran Church, 4600 Fulton Dr NW in Canton, OH on Saturday, July 26, 2025. Family visitation will be from 10 to 11am with the service immediately to follow. A lunch will be held afterwards at La Pizzeria restaurant, 3656 Dressler Rd NW, Canton.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Mayo Clinic: givemayoclinic.org

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