Sandra Layman (80) of Hidalgo

Sandra “Sandy” Lou Layman, 80, of Hidalgo, Illinois, passed away December 13, 2023, at Willowbrook Memory Support Residences of Effingham.  Together with her husband, Marion Edward Layman, they resided at their family grain farm in rural Hidalgo since 1962.

Sandy was born January 1, 1943, in Gary, Indiana, the youngest daughter of Paul and Jesse (Hall) Grove. Her family moved around a lot in her youth, as her father worked as a country & western musician and entertainer at several AM radio stations in the Midwest during the 1940s and early 1950s. Together with her older sister, Donna Lee (Grove) McCrillis, she frequently sang with her Dad as part of his radio program, which for several years was heard on WDZ AM radio in Tuscola, Illinois, and sponsored by the Sunway Vitamin Company.  After her parents settled down on a family farm near West Liberty, Illinois, she graduated from Newton High School with the Class of 1961.  She married Marion on February 18, 1962, and they built their home that same year near his parents’ home north of Hidalgo. She worked as a secretary for a time after graduating high school until becoming a full-time farmer’s wife and mother of two children.

Sandy is survived by a son Robb (wife Patricia) Layman of Williamsville, Illinois; a daughter Paige (husband Mike) Clark of Newton, Illinois; and her sister Donna Lee (husband Larry) McCrillis of Newton, Illinois. She is survived by two grandsons, John Walter Layman, and Riley Paul Hart; a nephew, Brad (wife Laurie) McCrillis; a niece, Brigit (husband Keith) Bailey; sister-in-law Shirley (husband Frank) Smythe; and two nephews, Cory and Joshua Smythe.

Sandy enjoyed many family activities over the years, including attending baseball/softball games and marching band events involving both her children, encouraging her daughter’s various music and dance activities, and family reunions and vacations.  She was a devoted mother to her children, always willing to offer encouragement or advice with respect to life’s daily events or problems.  Sandy also nurtured or instilled many of her own interests in her children, such as the love of music and family, the rewards of gardening, the beauty of native American arts and the American West, and the joy of finding a good antique at a country farm auction or flea market.  She was a member of a local Antiques Study Club in the 1970s, and, with help from her family, she later bought and sold primitives and country furniture in a red-painted cow barn, doing business as the Ambraw River Trading Company, and in a former bank building in Greenup, known as the Tin Ceiling.  She inspired and befriended many of her customers over the years in these pursuits.  She was a great cook, having learned from her mother, and she loved to laugh, inheriting the latter from her father.  Above all, Sandy cherished her love and friendship with her childhood sweetheart, Marion, to whom she was married for 57 years.

Sandy was preceded in her death by her husband Marion, and her parents, Paul and Jesse Grove.

Funeral services celebrating Sandy’s life will be held at 12:00 PM (Noon) – Monday, December 18, 2023, at the Meyer Funeral Home in Newton, Illinois.  The burial will be in the Aten Cemetery north of Hidalgo, Illinois.  Visitation will be held from 10:30 AM until service time at the funeral home.  In loving memory of Sandy, memorials may be made to Saved by Grace.  The obituary can be viewed, and condolences left by clicking here.