Sandra Tilley

[marybrewster]

I don't want to come across as tacky, but there's something I'm curious about:

Find a Grave states that Sandra Tilley is buried in Highlands Park Cemetary without a grave marker. It's a little upsetting, if this is true, to know that someone that's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is resting as an "unknown".

Does anyone know much about Sandy's final years? I understand she married, but never had children. Who did she marry [[it's referenced that her last name was eventaully Tilley-Miese)? Is her husband still alive? What did she do for work after the Vandellas disbanded?

Finally, is there something constructive we can do on SDF to honor this woman who was taken too soon?

[marybrewster]

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8328476

[blueskies]

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=crMap&CRid=41411


OMG.....I drive past this cemetery all the time and had no idea Sandra was buried here. I did know she was from Cleveland, as is Ann Bogan [[Marvelettes), who still lives here. I, too, would like more information on Sandra after the Vandella's. Good topic, Mary. Hopefully, someone out can provide some info.

[reese]

After the Vandellas, Martha wrote that Sandra married and opened a boutique down South.

[GrtGzu]

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=crMap&CRid=41411


OMG.....I drive past this cemetery all the time and had no idea Sandra was buried here. I did know she was from Cleveland, as is Ann Bogan [[Marvelettes), who still lives here. I, too, would like more information on Sandra after the Vandella's. Good topic, Mary. Hopefully, someone out can provide some info.

I'm there with ya Blue - I'm right around the corner from Highland Park [[got relatives buried there too) and never knew this...

[marybrewster]

Sandy is: Plot: 26_G_5_22 [[unmarked)

Again, I hope this topic doesn't come across as disrespectful; it just seems like there's a bit of injustice in the situation.

I wonder if Berry knows this? Or Smokey? Knowing that both the Velvelettes and Martha and the Vandellas still tour, I wonder if they'd be interested in fundraising to help preserve Sandra's legacy?

Yes, I know that we can't turn to Berry every time a former Motown artist is "in need", but Sandy was a Vandella just as long as Jean Terrell was a Supreme; longer than Ann Bogan was a Marvelette.

[marv2]

After the Vandellas, Martha wrote that Sandra married and opened a boutique down South.

One her girl cousins use to communicate with me years back mentioned that Sandy passed while living in Vegas.

[BigAl]

It's sad that so many entertainers have been relegated to unmarked resting spaces. You'll remember that even the remains of the great Bessie Smith, arguably the greatest recorded female blues singer or her [[or any) day, rested in an unmarked grave for over thirty years before Janis Joplin had a stone erected. You have to wonder.

Sandy was sort of the showbiz version of "always a bridesmaid, never a bride," in that her career largely comprised being a replacement: in a grouping of latter-day Orlons, then in a grouping of Velvelettes under Cal's aegis, and finally as a replacement Vandella.

[smark21]

This might make people here mad as I know a lot of you are into graveyards, tombs, graves and headstones, but isn't it more important that musician's work and art they created while alive remains with us for all with the opportunity to hear than whether or not the dead body is buried in a marked grave? To me it's the work that counts and it's important it remains available for future generations to hear and enjoy.

[BayouMotownMan]

According to Martha and Lois, Sandy couldn't find work in the entertainment field after the Vandellas split. Lois went with Quiet Elegance and worked for a few years before she went to community college for a 9-5. Sandy married and moved to Vegas where she was operating a boutique. She separated from her husband and was struggling financially when she fell ill and suffered a brain hemorrhage at 38. She died alone during the surgery. It was very sad. She was a lovely lady and Lois has shared so many great stories of their friendship. If anyone raises money for a headstone count me in