Boyd, Sandra
Sandra (Sandy) Lee Boyd
September 1, 1942 (Toronto) – February 10, 2023 (Guelph)It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Sandy’s passing on Friday February 10, 2023.
Sandy was known for her overflowing optimism. From a meal to a vacation to a reflection on a good day with family, she punctuated everything with “That was the BEST!”
Sandy grew up in Toronto, where she went to The Bishop Strachan School. As a youth she enjoyed summers at her family cottage on Perch Island, Lake Joseph where she was an avid water-skier and loved taking her Dad’s classic Greavette out for a cruise.
She went to Carleton University, where she met a tall, handsome basketball player named Ian Boyd. After getting married in 1964, they lived in Toronto until 1975, when they built a home in Belfountain and started a new adventure with country life. In 2005, they moved to the Village by the Arboretum in Guelph, where they made a whole new set of friends and took advantage of the many activities offered there.
Sandy deeply cherished her 3 children and their spouses – Lesley (Paul Bedard), Christopher (Angela) and Michael (Jenn). She was a devoted and loving mother. Caring for them when they were sick (known for her strong tonics of salt water to relieve a sore throat), picking them up when they were down (“this too will pass”) and always interested in the little details of their lives. She was a dedicated letter writer, sending detailed and amusing notes to the 3 kids when they went off to sleep-away camp in the summer.
Sandy was the extrovert in the family and knew everybody’s name, from the butcher to the mailman to the woman at the grocery check-out lane. She was friendly to everyone. She had a wide network of friends that just kept building up over the years with the different places she lived and activities she participated in. She had deep friendships with a lot of women, which she always nurtured with long phone calls and many trips to warm and sunny locations. She had an infectious laugh and a great sense of humour.
She had many passionate interests that kept her busy, which was reflected on a kitchen calendar - every day packed with her perfect cursive handwriting...and white-out when things changed. In Belfountain, she was very involved in the neighborhood women’s tennis league. When playing with other couples, she and Ian made a dynamic duo on the court, with his height and her steady ground strokes. She and Ian also loved to play golf, and many vacations included this on the itinerary. She was a games person. She and Ian would play backgammon every day after lunch, going through many spiral bound scoring logbooks. When her grandchildren came along, she discovered the card game Wizard, and many a family gathering was spent around a long pine table playing together. Ironically, with all her game playing, she was the only one in the family that wasn’t highly competitive. She was there for the fun and the laughs and the memory making.
One of Sandy’s legacies will be her deft hand at pastry. There was almost always a pie on the Sunday dinner table, and she would freeze bags and bags of fresh fruit in the summer to use in her pies all year long. Her family is determined to replicate her mastery and keep the tradition alive. Another of her special talents was gardening. She was renowned for her cascading geranium planters that she nurtured all summer - her family joked that she must sing to them to keep them so beautiful and lush. She also had a stunning collection of orchids that brightened up the family room all year long.
Sandy took great pride in her volunteer work at The Village by the Arboretum. For several years she was the Coordinator of Library, which tapped into her passion for reading. She loved having a small budget to buy the latest and greatest and get them displayed for the community to enjoy. She also served on The Executive of the resident’s association.
Sandy dearly loved and was incredibly proud of her grandchildren: Jack, Sarah, Hannah, Maddy, Abby, Mia and Lily. She flourished in her role as “Grammy”, bringing all her amazing mothering traits to the newest generation. She would cheer them on in their sports activities, nurture them with a good storybook, include them in her pastry making and give a really good back rub. She was the one person who would let them win at a game.
Five years ago, Sandy was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Ian did an incredible job being her devoted caregiver, enabling her to stay in the home, which was her wish. A year ago, Taylor Gutcher came into our family like a ray of sunshine to help Sandy and Ian with caregiving; our deepest gratitude goes out to her. Our family would also like to express appreciation to the team at Hospice Wellington, who made her last days comfortable and peaceful. An extra special thanks to Dr. Cary Shafir, who was a guardian angel through the difficult days at the end of Sandy’s life. Her experience and empathy were invaluable to our family.
A private family celebration of life will be held in the Spring.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to Hospice Wellington would benefit the many families who are given comfort and dignity in their last days of life.
