Mary Sand; Federal Worker Active in Civil Rights Causes

Mary Sand, 89, who spent 28 years in the federal government before retiring as an instructional design system specialist with the Federal Aviation Administration in 2004, died Oct. 6 at Suburban Hospital after lapsing into a coma. She had congestive heart failure.

Mrs. Sand began working with the Civil Service Commission in 1976 and was part of its reorganization with the Office of Personnel Management. In the late 1980s, she joined the FAA.

Before moving to Bethesda in 1975, Mrs. Sand lived in New Orleans and was active in civil rights work there. In the 1950s and 1960s, she was president of the group Save Our Schools (SOS), which pushed to keep the public school system integrated. The group, which included white and black residents, fought against segregationists' efforts to shut down public schools in the face of court-ordered integration.

The group also worked to thwart attempts by Louisiana elected officials to funnel tax money into the creation of separate "white flight" academies, either through direct use of tax money or through vouchers redeemable at all-white schools.

"Education was dear to her heart," said her son, Fred Sand, adding that was the arena in which she carried out her civil right efforts.

As president of SOS, Mrs. Sand debated Democratic politician Leander Perez on television. Perez was a nationally known as a strident opponent of desegregation. "No one wanted to take him on . . . but she did," said Sand, a Bethesda resident.

Sand said that his mother's life was threatened on numerous occasions and that she had to be given police and FBI protection. The book "The Second Battle of New Orleans" (1996) by Liva Baker recounts the stories of Mrs. Sand and other residents involved in New Orleans school desegregation efforts.

Mrs. Sand also participated in the work of the Southern Regional Council, a racial justice group, and in the early 1970s, at the request of Walter Cowan of the Times-Picayune newspaper, she founded and led an organization that worked to protect women in New Orleans from assault, sexual violence, domestic abuse and other violent crimes. She also designed and implemented academic and counseling programs to assist returning Vietnam veterans with their transition to the University of New Orleans.

Mrs. Sand worked with religious and civic groups to help disadvantaged preschool children prepare for the classroom. Her efforts in New Orleans were recognized by former mayor Moon Landrieu and by President Gerald R. Ford.

Born Mary Eiermann in Madison, Wis., she graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1940 and taught Latin and English in Rice Lake, Wis., before marrying Norbert Sand in 1944.

The couple moved to Washington, where her husband worked for the Office of War Information. She taught high school in Upper Marlboro and attended George Washington University, receiving a master's degree in 1947.

She and her husband then moved to New Orleans, where she was a substitute teacher in the public schools, worked briefly as an adjunct English instructor at Tulane University and taught Latin and English at a high school.

In 1964, she was appointed academic counselor for the school of liberal arts at the University of New Orleans (formerly Louisiana State University in New Orleans), a position she held until 1975.

In Bethesda, she was a member of St. Jane de Chantal Church, where she sang in the choir.

She also belonged to the American Council of Catholic Women. For years, an informal group of parishioners met at her house weekly to read and discuss church history and other religious topics.

Her husband died in 1986.

Survivors, in addition to her son, include three other children, Thomas Sand of Gales Ferry, Conn., William Sand of Broussard, La., and Mary Elizabeth Hamilton of Louisville; a sister; and two grandchildren.