Sen. Jack Sandlin memorialized at Indiana Statehouse as grandfather who 'loved fiercely'

For once, the dominant sound in the Indiana Statehouse was the whir of air circulation beneath the rotunda, punctuated only by a baby's gurgling, as members of law enforcement laid the American flag on the casket of the late state senator from Indianapolis, Jack Sandlin.

Sandlin would have hated the regalia of it all, friends and family said ― lying in state, a rare type of honor given to Hoosier public servants, as hundreds of lawmakers, police, friends, family and the governor's cabinet filled the atrium. The Republican senator and former city-county councilor was far more understated, humble and stubborn, too.

"He would have given me one of those 'aw Freeman!'" State Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, said. "Which he gave me a lot."

Sandlin's death last week came unexpectedly to most people. Prior to the Friday service at the Statehouse, mourners in black murmered among themselves about how active and talkative he was the last they'd seen him, whether it was about the upcoming legislative session or a house project he was working on with his three grandchildren.

The last conversation Freeman had had with Sandlin was about the remodeling he would do to his grandson's bedroom. The recent high school graduate was living with Sandlin and his wife in Indianapolis, preparing to attend an airplane maintenance trade school. To no one's surprise, Sandlin, a former police officer in Indianapolis and Southport who maintained a private investigator business long into retirement, put a tracking device on his grandson's car.

"That's Jack," Freeman said.

Sandlin and Freeman were companions in every sense of the word during their parallel careers in the City-County Council and state Senate. They would read each other's bills at the Statehouse, take turns taking on the heat for bills curtailing public transit. They sat together on the council and voted down budgets because they didn't include funding for Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's recruitment class. "Damn the consequences," was Sandlin's attitude, Freeman said.

"He didn't need a public opinion poll to tell him what the right thing to do is," Freeman said.

National Night Out

Though the stubbornness never fully left him, having grandchildren evoked a softer side, longtime family friend Ashlee Wells-Pierce said. Her first memory of him is seeing him at a National Night Out event carrying around his first baby grandchild, beaming. As they grew up, Sandlin rarely missed basketball and volleyball games; nor did he miss Wednesday morning Bible studies or Sunday church, which in recent years meant driving 100 miles each way to Hanover Baptist Church in Madison.

Jack and Lydia Sandlin, married 49 years, have been Wells-Pierce's "Indianapolis parents" for the last 16, she said. When she got engaged to her now-husband, the Sandlins were her first phone call. Jack Sandlin officiated their wedding.

"I knew I wanted him to do that well before I met my husband," she said.

From Greenwood High School to Indianapolis Police

Sandlin kept a full plate his entire life. He started working at 6 years old as a paper boy, working his older brother's routes. He joined the Indianapolis Police Department, as it was called then, immediately after graduating from Greenwood High School, then served in the army in Vietnam. After a career in law enforcement, and in addition to his private investigation practice, he was an adjunct professor at Vincennes University, volunteered in Perry Township schools, and served on the boards of the township historical society and Christian organizations.

Obituary: State Sen. Jack Sandlin remembered as law enforcement and social conservative champion

So when he told Wells-Pierce he was going to run for state Senate in 2016, she asked him if he was crazy.

"We kept waiting for him to slow down," she said. "That wasn't Jack."

Primary election night in 2016 was the only time Freeman had ever seen Sandlin cry, he said, and Freeman didn't even notice the tears until looking at pictures this week. Sandlin was stoic and no-nonsense, but "loved fiercely," Wells-Pierce said.

As one does when a friend passes unexpectedly, Freeman said he wished he'd have told Sandlin how he loved him the last time he saw him. Hands reached for tissues beneath the seats.

Sandlin will be laid to rest Saturday in the Indiana Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Madison.

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Sen. Jack Sandlin remembered with service at Statehouse