Originally Posted by
dannyboy1968
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE:
Hello All!
I am unsure if anyone will see this, but for the past week or so, my interest in Tilley's limited-known life story has deepened. I found myself growing increasingly curious about the life of this unsung Motown icon. My curiosity has led me to do a bit of digging into the life of Sandra Tilley. I PROMISE I AM NOT WEIRD, LOL! But, for some reason, I have just been curious about her life before and after her Motown years. And I will say, that I found more than I anticipated. From my findings, I discovered that there were a few errors made on her Wikipedia page. For instance, Tilley didn't move to Detroit to live with her aunt Shirley, she would remain in Cleveland for most of her earlier years.
Tilley was born to Merrile Tilley and Constance Andrews on May 3rd, 1946.
Her maternal mother, Constance Andrews, was born in West Virginia in 1925 to a native Caribbean man born in Grenada called James and an African American woman who was called Beulah who was also from West Virginia. Her father Merrile Tilley Jr. born in 1918 was a WW2 soldier from Milliedgivell, Georgia.
Her parents were not the vaudeville dancers the Wiki page claims them to be [[at least, I couldn’t find any records of dancers in the Cleveland area who went by the name of Tilley in the 1940s) and I don’t think the affair of her parents lasted very long. Although the couple would marry in 1945, her father would pass before she was born [[sometime in January 1946), and her mother pass in a very unfortunate “collision” in 1947.
In 1947, Tilley would be adopted by her grandparents Beulah & James and remained in their care until her early adult years. Sandra Tilley attended East High School in Cleveland and would graduate with the class of 1964. During her years at East High School, she would study violin in her music classes [[I suppose this is where her interest in music began)
[[There are some grey areas as to what happened between the time she graduated from East High in 1964 & signed to Motown in 66’. I suppose there was some truth to her moving to Detroit with her mother’s sister Shirley Andrews).
I think we are all familiar with the events which would occur with Tilley after she signed with Motown Records. She would be recruited by Cal of The Velvelettes in 1965, and sing with them until they disbanded in 67’. And she would soon join Martha Reeves and The Vandellas in 1968. She’d play at the Copacabana in New York and meet with stars like Judy Garland. Then tour the U.K with the group in 1970. [[There are still some grey areas in my research, as to her whereabouts following The Vandellas breaking up. I found numerous accounts which suggested that she did Indeed marry & settle somewhere in Texas, however, I am not certain. )
My discoveries also lead me to find out that she passed away in 1983, not 1981. Although her Wiki page suggests that she passed in 81’ the sources state that she passed on the date September 9th, 1983.
I, also, found that she does indeed still have a family ALIVE AND WELL in Cleveland Ohio. This leads me to wonder if they have any knowledge of the fact that she remains in an unmarked grave after nearly 40 years, or even the slightest knowledge of her passing in 1983. Or if Lois Reeves knew of her living family in Cleveland during her "search"?
As to all of my fellow soulfuldetroiters... Is there still any interest in possibly getting some sort of memorial created for Tilley, or even the slightest reconsideration of having a proper headstone created for her final resting place?
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