08/02/06
One of the three founding fathers of Power & Tel, Marvin Sandidge has passed away.
MARVIN HASTINGS SANDIDGE, 90, of Memphis, died Monday, July 31, 2006. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi and grew up in Panola County. At the age of seventeen, he became a lineman for Arkansas Power & Light Company, learning a trade in electricity, which would be the nucleus of his lifetime's work. During WWII, he was the superintendent of power at Shelby County’s DuPont plant, which provided explosives for the US military. After the war he started his own business, Sandidge Construction Co., Inc., which built power and telephone systems throughout the rural South, supplying thousands of families with electricity and telephone services. During his career, he was president of Peoples’ Telephone Company, Independent Telephone Association, and the Power and Communications Association. He was also one of the founders of Power and Telephone Supply Company. He served on the Board of Trustees at Union University in Jackson, TN. for 25 years and served on the Executive Committee of the Board most of those years. He received their honorary Doctor of Humanities degree and was declared an honorary alumnus of the university. He was an active member and deacon of Memphis area Baptist churches and most recently a member of Colonial Baptist Church. His life reflected his great love for family and church and his generosity, which was typically anonymous, touched many lives. He leaves his wife of 70 years, Bonnie Norton Sandidge; a daughter, Freddie Sandidge McEwan and her husband, Dr. R. C. McEwan, Jr.; two grandsons, Robert C. McEwan and Daniel H. McEwan; and six great grandchildren. Visitation will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday August 2 in the North Chapel. The Memorial Service will follow at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Colonial Baptist Church or Union University in Jackson, TN. Memorial Park Funeral Home 901-767-8930.