Sanford (Harvey) is born in Boston.

Harvey Sanford grows up on Hammond Street, becomes fascinated by airplanes after trips with his father to what is then Boston Airport, and graduates Boston Trade High School. After working as a mechanic at Moton Field, Sanford is joins the Army in 1940 and becomes a maintenance inspector for the Tuskegee Airmen. After the war, he works in research and development at Hanscom Field and then as an inspector at Logan Airport. Sanford dies in Dorchester on May 24, 2016.