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Former East Islip resident John Sander dies at 82

BY JENNIFER BARRIOS | jennifer.barrios@newsday.com

December 15, 2008

Long Islanders searching for a taste of Germany often looked no further than John Sander's deli.

There, Sander would whip up potato salads, accompanied by bratwurst, liverwurst and head cheese - the pungent tastes of Sander's ancestral homeland.

Sander, a longtime resident of East Islip who owned a string of such delicatessens on Long Island, died Dec. 1. He was 82 and the cause was complications from emphysema.

His son, Bruce Sander of Stony Brook, said his father became a deli owner because he wanted to start a family business - and he did, literally.

His wife, Margie, was the cook. And his three children were the helpers.

"The whole family used to spend Christmases, Thanksgivings - everything was done in the deli," said Sander, who added that on several Thanksgivings, the family cooked a turkey in the restaurant's oven and ate it in the back.

John Sander's first deli was in Sayville. Later he bought a deli in Farmingdale, then sold it and ultimately opened Holbrook Delicatessen in Holbrook, where he spent 12 years.

Bruce Sander said his father had a gruff personality but was beloved by his customers, who liked to teasingly provoke him.

"We used to refer to him as the Sour Kraut," Bruce Sander said. "He was a very thickheaded German, but basically with a heart of gold."

Sander was born in the Bronx. He met Margie, his wife of nearly 60 years, when they worked at a war factory during World War II. A childhood injury kept Sander from enlisting in the service, his son said.

Later, the couple moved to College Point, then to East Islip, where they raised their children.

Bruce Sander said his father, barrel-chested and strong, spent nearly every waking hour at work - "from six in the morning to 10 at night, seven days a week, 99 percent of the time."

Even after Sander retired and moved to Florida, his son said, he couldn't keep still.

"He winds up working in the deli at Wal-Mart at 70-something years old," Bruce Sander said. "He was so used to the long-hour work ethic."

Later, Sander and his wife moved to North Richland Hills, Texas, to be with their daughter, Barbara Tedesco.

In addition to his wife, daughter and son, who is president of the Deer Park Teachers' Association, Sander is survived by seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brother, Peter Sander, and a daughter, Linda Hedwig Sander.

A memorial service will take place at St. James Funeral Home at 7 p.m. Friday, with burial Saturday in Pinelawn Memorial Park.