Sandra Burlingame

Sandra Gast Burlingame died on April 12, 2025 in Portland, Oregon. Her grandfather was C.E. Burlingame of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. She and her sister Teddy were raised and mothered by their beloved nanny Margaret Louise Renken. Sandy graduated from the University of Oklahoma where she was a member of Mortar Board, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and represented the school as Miss O.U. in 1957. She received her Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Rhode Island in 1961.

In Bartlesville she worked with a group to establish the Washington County SPCA and opened the Talisman Art Gallery with Jody Kirberger.  In 1969 she moved to New York City, later settling on Glen Wild Lake in Bloomingdale, New Jersey, where she joined the Lake’s governing board and constructed crossword puzzles, one of which was published in the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

In 1982 she moved to the Pacific Northwest, first living on Orcas Island, Washington, before settling in Seattle in 1985. A life-long interest in jazz led her to join the newly formed board of the non-profit organization Earshot where she edited the newsletter. She also published and edited 5/4 Magazine, contributed interviews to Paul de Barros’ book, Jackson Street After Hours, and edited books by singer Jay Clayton and pianist Randy Halberstadt. She worked for and traveled with jazz singer Ernestine Anderson. She discovered a passion for quilting and spent the next twenty-five  years making quilts for family, friends, non-profit organizations, and sale.

She moved to Portland, Oregon in 1997, where she served as editor of the web site Jazz Standards until retiring. She is survived by her sister, Teddy Burlingame of Carbondale, Colorado and sons Ryan Webster, retired, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma and Jason Burlingame, co-owner of STAMP Event Co. in New York City.

Remembrances can be made to Freedom From Religion Foundation, ACLU, Planned Parenthood or Oregon Humane Society.