Dr. Scott James Sandage was a caring and spirited father, son, brother, and friend. He passed from this life quite suddenly on Wednesday, July 9 while working at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) where he served as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Associate Professor. He leaves behind a daughter (Natasha Sandage), his father (Duane Sandage), two siblings (Suanne Sandage and Steven Sandage), and many extended family members, friends, and colleagues. His legacy also includes four decades of providing care to children, adolescents, and families, leading and training medical professionals, and consulting on complex cases on the frontlines of human suffering and healing.
Scott was born in Iowa Falls, Iowa and grew up in Clarion, Iowa. He did his undergraduate studies at Iowa State University and received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery in Des Moines, Iowa. After completing further training at the MCW, he joined the staff in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Children’s Hospital in Chicago prior to becoming Division Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Lutheran General Hospital in the Chicago area. He served as a consultant to over 30 schools and 3 residential treatment programs during many years of independent practice. In 2015, he returned to MCW where he provided consultation liaison psychiatry to the inpatient units and pediatric specialty care clinics at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and to primary care providers across the state of Wisconsin through the Wisconsin Child Psychiatry Consultation Program. He was an active member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and was recognized as a Distinguished Life Fellow among other leadership positions in his field at state and national levels. Scott had many areas of professional expertise, but he particularly loved the teaching and practice of cross-cultural psychiatry informed by his research in the South Pacific and South America, as well as consultation work with refugee mental health clinics in the US. His approach to psychiatry was informed by rigorous science but also anthropology, philosophy, literature, and a strong commitment to social justice. He was often helping lead the vanguard of new developments in his field and pressing for systemic changes in medicine to better serve children and their families. When he wasn’t working at MCW, Scott resided in Evanston, IL for the last 31 years, where he surrounded himself with books, artifacts from his travels, and mementos of the tropics. We will miss his deep compassion, lively humor, probing mind, experimental cooking, encyclopedic knowledge of music, and penchant for wearing Hawaiian shirts. And we will try to practice the wisdom of Scott’s favorite author, Carl Jung, who said, “Embrace your grief. For there your soul will grow.”
A Memorial Gathering will be held on Sunday August 24th, from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM with a brief service at Noon in the Pullman Room at the Chicago Botanic Gardens (1000 Lake Cook Rd, Glencoe, IL 60022). Please mention Sandage Memorial at the Gatehouse for complimentary parking. A light lunch will be served.
In lieu of flowers, to honor Scott’s memory, the family invites you to plant a tree in his honor through the Arbor Day Foundation. Memorial donations may also be made to AACAP or to support Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Attn: Office of Institutional Advancement, P.O. Box 26509, Milwaukee, WI 53226-0509. Gifts may also be made online at www.mcw.edu/giving/ways-to-give/donate-now.
