IN MEMORIAM: Rhonda Sande

Rhonda Sande

The Pest Management Professional (PMP) team has lost one of their own. After a long, courageous battle with cancer, PMP Senior Manager of Production Services Rhonda Sande passed away June 30 at age 60. Born and raised in Duluth, Minn., Sande was a familiar voice on the phone to most of PMP’s supplier partners and advertisers. She coordinated the layout of every magazine, collecting advertising materials and working with PMP’s editorial and design team to receive finished editorial pages and coordinate the print and digital versions of each issue. She also occasionally helped out at the PMP booth at trade shows.

Sande had been with the magazine since 2012, and before that worked on sibling magazines at PMP’s previous owners Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Advanstar Communications and Questex Media Group starting in 1983. She worked almost until her passing, never failing her team and always showing her patience, skill and good humor.

Our team knew she loved music, but none of us realized the extent in which she was involved locally. Per an obituary that appears in the Duluth News Tribune, Sande “started her musical journey learning accordion at Johnny’s Music in West Duluth, where she quickly moved through the ranks to join the renowned Duluth Accordionaires. She was a member of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra Chorus, as well as the choir of the Pilgrim Lutheran Church of Superior.”

Sande is survived by her husband, Dave; stepson, Glenn; and brother and sister-in-law Thomas Matta and Carrie Baumann-Matta. Services will take place on July 19 at Kenwood Lutheran Church in Duluth.

The PMP team is very appreciative of Terri Johnstone-Mueller, both a friend and colleague of Sande’s, for taking over production manager duties of the magazine in addition to her normal workload.

On a personal note, I cannot say enough positive things about Rhonda Sande. They say only the good die young, and she embodies that. She was an integral, amazing part of our team every day, and we all will miss her dearly.