Activist, organizer, author, philanthropist and scholar Norman Sandfield, who was for many years an active member in Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community, died June 11 surrounded by his siblings and other family members at a hospice facility in Dallas due to kidney failure. He was 79.
Sandfield was born Sept. 27, 1945, in Dallas, the oldest of five children, and spent his childhood and teenage years there. As a teen, he was his synagogue’s youth group’s committee chair. He graduated from Vanderbilt University where he was active in Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi in 1967 and immediately went to graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis to work on his MBA for a year.
Sandfield decided to take a break from graduate school and joined the Air Force to avoid being drafted into the Army and sent to fight in the Vietnam War. He served for four years and was stationed in Topeka, Kansas, and Europe. After Sandfield was honorably discharged, he returned to Washington University to finish his MBA.
What brought Sandfield to Chicago after he got his MBA was his sister Carol Lynn, who already lived there, as well as the job opportunities the city provided for him. He eventually became a Japanese antiques dealer.
Sandfield realized he was gay as an adult during his early years in Chicago while reading a book at his home. Shortly after that, a gay friend of his visited Chicago and took him to his first queer bar, which he grew to love going to after years of negative thoughts about the whole bar scene.
The LGBTQ+ inclusive Congregation Or Chadash (Now Or Chadash – Temple Sholom of Chicago) became Sandfield’s spiritual home when he joined the congregation in 1978. A year later, he became a member of the congregation’s steering committee. He subsequently chaired other congregation committees with one term as treasurer and three as president. He did Jewish-focused organizing for the LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS communities both in Chicago and internationally as a member of Congregation Or Chadash.
Sandfield served as a representative of Congregation Or Chadash at the Chicago Interfaith Group, where he helped foster relations between Jews and people of other religious faiths, and the World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Jews meetings. He served as the World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Jews president from 1985-1986 and co-chaired the 11th International Conference of that organization in 1989.
His other endeavors include as Jewish AIDS Network-Chicago co-founder where his goal was to bridge the gap between the Jewish and LGBTQ advocacy worlds; Howard Brown Health’s fundraising Brown Society vice-president from 1985-1986; and various interfaith relations positions over the years. He was the first International Jewish AIDS Network Conference in Washington, D.C. co-chair (1996). That same year, Sandfield was also instrumental in bringing together four countries’ Jewish AIDS worker members during a NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt display.
Sandfield was inducted into Chicago’s LGBT Hall of Fame in 1999. He was interviewed for the Chicago Gay History project in 2007. He appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s AM Chicago in the early ‘80s alongside other queer Chicagoans to talk about their experiences in the city.
Additionally, Sandfield financially supported Lambda Legal, Gerber/Hart Library and Archives (Gerber/Hart), Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame and Congregation Or Chadash over the years. Sandfield donated his LGBTQ+ archival materials, including his extensive pin collection to Gerber/Hart and the Leather Archives and Museum. He donated his collection of Indigenous American bolo ties and silver seed pots to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona and Japanese books and periodicals to the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio.
Sandfield served on the Gerber/Hart board where he was instrumental in reopening the library and archives at its current location in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. To honor Sandfield for his leadership, Gerber/Hart named its gallery after him.
Sandfield wrote The Ultimate Netsuke Bibliography: An Annotated Guide to Miniature Japanese Carvings and co-wrote Ichiro: Master Netsuke Carver, Awa Tsireh: Pueblo Painter and Metalsmith and Native American Bolo Ties: Vintage and Contemporary Artistry. Sandfield’s collections were featured in the book Old Traditions in New Pots: Silver Seed Pots from the Norman L. Sandfield Collection by Tricia Loscher.
Traveling the world with his family and close friends was a passion for Sandfield. He and his brother Robert participated in the invite-only International Puzzle Party, where they designed and spearheaded the production of their three-dimensional puzzles. Additionally, Sandfield was a member of Mensa.
He was preceded in death by his parents Max and Carol (Wiener) Sandfield and sister Carol Lynn Birnbaum. He is survived by his sister Joan Jackson, brothers Robert Sandfield and Byron (Jacqueline) Sandfield, brother-in-law Peter Birnbaum, nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and countless chosen family members and friends.
Sister Joan Jackson said, “Norman was a wonderful brother. He was so smart, kind and sweet. After our father died, all of us siblings traveled together with our mother to New Zealand in 1995, which she called an honor, and other places around the world with our final trip to Alaska, Japan and Russia in 2004. We were all so happy when he moved back to Dallas to be near the rest of us family members in 2022. He lived with me for a year and then moved into his own place. My daughter Laura cared for him as he battled his illnesses for the last two years of his life. Norman told Laura that he trusted her because he know she would make the best decisions for him. He will be missed by many people and especially his family members.”
Longtime friends pay tribute to Sandfield
Joan Goldstein said, “Norman was my long-time friend, art guide and traveling companion. We had not seen each other in recent years due to both of our health issues, but we did speak over the phone during that time. I was first introduced to Norman during my unior year 1968-69 at Washington University in St. Louis by a fellow Nashvillian who knew Norman when he was a fraternity member at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. We dated briefly while in St. Louis, but I then lost track of him. After graduate school, he moved to Chicago, where the same Nashville friend and I were now living. She re-introduced us, and he and I became fast friends.
“I collect Native American art, mainly miniature clay and silver pots and other art. Truth be told, it was Norman who got me interested in collecting in general, and in Native American art in particular. I learned a great deal about another of Norman’s passions, Japanese netsuke as well.
“Our first trip together was to Kyoto, Japan and then China, which was led by the Art Institute of Chicago’s Asian Arts curator whom Norman knew. This trip began our many years of traveling together to many unusual and interesting places in the world. Our biggest disappointment was the trip we took to Antarctica, following which Norman adapted the phrase, ‘Never have so many gone so far to see so little of so much.’ The most intriguing was our trip to Papua, New Guinea.
“We traveled a number of times to Santa Fe, New Mexico for the important Indian Market, and to Phoenix for the Heard Museum’s Indian Market. Norman claimed that he started collecting bolos after I gave him a Native American belt buckle for his birthday one year. He felt the buckles needed ‘ties’ to go with them.
“Eventually, Norman decided he needed to donate his silver seed pot collection to an institution that would want and care for them. We agreed that the Heard Museum was the best place for the silver seed pots, and later for Norman’s collection of bolo ties. The Heard welcomed Norman and mounted several exhibitions around his collections. They even had Norman write exhibition catalogues along with the exhibition’s curators.
“While traveling, Norman and I never told our fellow travelers what our true relationship was. Many assumed we were married, siblings or otherwise related. We’d just smile and nod our heads and leave them wondering. Norman was wonderfully close to his family. His late sister Carol Lynn also loved netsuke after learning about them from Norman and all things Japanese. When Norman did a show to sell his netsuke, Carol Lynn was often his ‘lovely assistant.’ I tried to fill her shoes once, but it was hard to do this because I don’t have that Sandfield gift of gab that Carol Lynn and Norman both had. I will my friend, Norman, dearly.”
Bob Cohn said, “Norman was a wise and worldly good friend to many for the almost 50 years he lived in Chicago. I met Norman when he joined Congregation Or Chadash, the gay and lesbian Jewish synagogue. Norman led services at the Second Unitarian Church before we had a rabbi because he could speak Hebrew. He was my best friend for all of my adult life. I’d go to Norman with the current ‘biggest problem in my life,’ and he’d immediately recommend a simple and practical solution. Norman and I loved magic shows and went to at least one magic show a month. Norman loved theater and we’d go to at least one play a month.
“Norman had loyal and loving administrative assistants who helped him run his netsuke business. They stayed for many years and said that Norman was the smartest person they had ever known, and how appreciative they were to learn so much from him. He was generous to our synagogue, Lambda Legal, Gerber/Hart, and the Jewish AIDS Network. Norman belonged to the gay chapter of Mensa and hosted receptions at his home where others met and eventually married. He was a prolific author who wrote and published beautiful books about bolo ties and netsuke.”
Congregation Or Chadash Rabbi Emeritus Larry Edwards said, “Norman was so beloved in so many circles. At Or Chadash he was our historical memory and so much more. It was through his good offices that Or Chadash was initiated into Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Hall of Fame. An art maven, brilliant collector and a life-coach to many. Lover of Japanese art, bolo ties and difficult puzzles. His apartment(s) contained many treasures, but the greatest treasure was Norman himself.
“My sister, Rabbi Lisa Edwards, is equally saddened by this news. She first met Norman at a World Congress of LGBT Jews. He asked her, ‘Are you the Lisa Edwards who wrote a book on Japanese netsuke?’ She is. And they quickly became friends. I only got to know him later when I became Rabbi of Or Chadash.
“Various members of Congregation Or Chadash have sent me comments: Norman was certainly one of a kind. Or Chadash would not have been the same — perhaps would not have been at all — without him. I will always remember his helping to make Or Chadash a spiritual home that was welcoming and caring for so many of us.
“Knowing Norman was a blessing to so many of us, and his memory remains a blessing.”
Frank Nussbaum said, “There was a group of us who used to celebrate Passover together at Norman’s house, which I loved because his seders were so fun and expeditious. He was a good cook. For a long time, Norman had a catered birthday party which was unusual for me because I had never been to a fancy event like that before. During the High Holidays, Jewish congregations have fundraisers and in his speech he humorously referred to that as the Sermon on the Amount. He had a wonderful and very close family and a lot of friends in Chicago and Dallas. Norman was my friend for 40 years and we would have Thanksgiving together for a number of those years with our fellow chosen family members in Chicago. I will miss him.”
Lilli Kornblum said, “Norman saw what needed to be done and then went about doing it. His vision and drive improved the lives of countless people in the LGBTQ community. It was a privilege to work with him and learn from him at Congregation Or Chadash, where I came to appreciate his passion and vision. His loyalty to both institutions and friends was an inspiration.”
Ed Mogul said, “Norman’s leadership of Or Chadash happened during a time when large numbers of gay and lesbian Jews, the demographic swell of baby-boomers in their early twenties, did not feel welcome in their parents’ congregations. With the help of others, Norman created a synagogue which met for several years at the 2nd Unitarian church at 656 W. Barry Avenue in Lake View, where community members felt they had a home. When he turned his attention to Gerber Hart, he applied his considerable organizational skills to help guide that institution. He gave generously to LGBT causes and organizations. He had unique skills. We are all enriched by Norman’s good works.”
Former Gerber/Hart Board President Carrie Barnett said, “Norman was a fierce advocate for so many important community organizations. Lionhearted and caring, his support for Gerber/Hart was an essential part of its success in reopening. I’m forever grateful for his generosity of spirit and his friendship.”
Gerber/Hart Community Outreach and Strategic Partnerships Manager Jen Dentel said, “Norman Sandfield was the first person I met when I started volunteering at Gerber/Hart back in 2014. Over the years, I loved the opportunities I had to chat with Norman, explore his incredible collection, and help curate exhibits in the Sandfield gallery. Norman’s donation in 2015 was the reason we were able to have our own dedicated exhibit space at Gerber/Hart, and it has been transformative in how we have been able to share highlights from our collection. Norman was instrumental in his involvement at Gerber/Hart over the years, and I know we would not exist as we do today without his generosity of time, materials, and funding.
“Norman’s collection is a treasure trove of LGBTQ+ life in Chicago from his decades of activist work. Two items that immediately come to mind are his extensive collection of pins—especially red ribbon pins—and two beautiful stained glass red ribbon pieces. In addition to the Sandfield collection, Norman also donated an incredible collection from Or Chadash, a LGBTQ+ inclusive synagogue formed in the 1970s. Together these collections are over 50 boxes of vitally important material in our collection.
“Gil Engelstein (a visiting fellow from Northwestern in 2024) and Sharon Levy (a current Gerber/Hart volunteer) have been instrumental in organizing these collections and making them publicly accessible.
“I remember Norman gave a presentation at Gerber/Hart in 2018 for the 25th anniversary of the 1993 Red Ribbon for AIDS Awareness US postage stamp. Sandfield was a lifetime collector, and his significant collection of Red Ribbon and Rainbow Pride items (among many other items) is housed at Gerber/Hart. This is an enormous loss for the Gerber/Hart community, and Norman will be truly missed.”
Engelstein said, “I never met Norman in person, but having spent nearly a year going over his life’s work—as reflected in his incredibly rich personal estate of records and ephemera—I feel like I’ve gotten a very good sense of one of his core qualities: radical generosity. Norman consistently refused to see Gay Liberation as a zero-sum game. Instead, he spent a lifetime invested in making more space for those left out, expanding what the term community actually means.
“Starting in 1978, when he joined the founding cohort of Or Chadash, the LGBTQ synagogue that remains active to this day (now with Temple Sholom), Norman’s activism always focused on forging solidarity across divides and differences, even when the terrain seemed impossible. He played a decisive role in the history of Midwestern, American and international queer and Jewish culture and activism through his many ventures, whether in leadership roles or behind the scenes.
“Importantly, Norman’s strands of queer and Jewish activism were woven into a multifaceted braid that extended beyond any one identity—hardly a parochial, inward-looking politics. He was dedicated to interfaith work, collaborating with a variety of faith organizations through the Lesbian/Gay Interfaith Alliance.
“For decades, he trekked far and wide to speak to diverse audiences about the value of queer and Jewish lives, even when many assumed these categories to be incompatible. Norman’s rich media and ephemera collection holds rare traces of the social transformation Gay Liberation heralded for US and Midwestern Jews. The speeches and meeting notes, pins and buttons, pamphlets, textiles and many other items, give material shape to the collective effort to reconcile two minority positions into an affirming, intersectional celebration of shared culture and activism.
“In donating his estate to Gerber/Hart, Norman made sure we can continue to carry on his legacy: truly seeing one another, sticking out for each other, and remembering we are always standing on the shoulders of giants. May his memory be a blessing.”
Levy said, “Although I never had the opportunity to meet Norman, over the year and a half of processing the Or Chadash archival collection, I felt I came to know a great deal about him. He was deeply dedicated to the causes he championed, especially the inclusion of LGBTQ identities in the Jewish world. The Or Chadash collection bore his name on literally hundreds of documents, from decade’s worth of board meeting minutes to grants and social events. His love and care for his community was evident throughout every note and reference within the collection.
“His legacy stands strong both spiritually, in the resilience of the LGBTQ community in Chicago today, and physically, through the documents he left behind. It has been a great honor to assist in preserving the great works he performed for and his dedication to his communities. I appreciate daily all he managed to achieve in bringing equality and joy to Chicago. May his memory be a blessing.”
Leather Archives and Museum Executive Director Gary Wasdin said, “Norman consistently supported many LGBTQ+ organizations, including the Leather Archives and Museum. In addition to his many financial gifts, Norman donated several George Dureau photographs to our art collections. All of us at LA&M send our love and healing thoughts to Norman’s family and friends. “
A celebration of life will take place at Gerber/Hart in late July. Contact Cohn at aguppie773@gmail.com for more information.