Sandra Jean WISE

GOODWIN, Sandra Jean (nee Wise) Written by Sandra last month: Sandra died of lung cancer on Friday, November 14th, 2008 lovingly cared for by her husband David, her Hospice nurses and doctors and her dear good friends. She died quietly at home just as she wished. Born in Winnipeg in 1938, she grew up there and graduated from the University of Manitoba with a BA in l958 and a BPed and AMM music diploma in 1959. In 1959, she married David Alexander Goodwin who had just graduated in Medicine. For the first two years of their marriage they lived in Winnipeg while David did his internship and a year of residence and Sandra taught school at Hugh John MacDonald. In 1961 they moved to Montreal for David to pursue further medical training and Sandra became a music specialist with the Protestant School Board of Montreal. Their two sons were born at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Robert in 1963 and Daniel in 1964. In 1965 they moved to Baltimore for David to train in Nuclear Medicine. In 1967 he was offered a position at Stanford University in the Dept of Nuclear Medicine. They moved to Palo Alto and had a happy and busy life there with Sandra teaching piano and actively involved with the Music Teachers Association of California. For a number of years during the seventies, Sandra and David took Robert & Daniel to England for the month of August. They rode bicycles, stayed in B&Bs and forged strong bonds with their English cousins. They all became passionate lovers of the English countryside. In l974 -75 they spent a sabbatical year in London during which Sandra earned an Associate Degree from the Royal College of Music in London. Her passion in life was music and children. She adored teaching piano and felt it was a privilege to teach beautiful music and be in close touch with young people. Her bond with her teaching colleagues was a tremendous enrichment to her life and her students brought her great joy. She remained very close to a number of them until her death. David and Sandra met as teenagers in the Manitoba Schools Orchestra both playing the cello. They carried on playing together in orchestras in Winnipeg, Montreal, Baltimore and in California for over 30 years and loving every minute of the opportunity to play the large orchestral works as well as being part of the opera each year. Their most treasured experience was the seven years playing in the Stanford Symphony Orchestra under Sandor Salgo, their revered mentor who became a long-time dear friend. In 2003, David and Sandra moved to Victoria BC after they retired. They were overjoyed with the wealth of music and the wonderful friends that they found there. Chamber music was their shared passion, loving to play with friends and listening to it. They attended nearly every chamber music concert that they could and were thrilled when the Emily Carr String Quartet was formed two years ago, making two fine resident quartets in Victoria. Sandra has requested that there be no service. In lieu of flowers, donations to the wonderful Victoria Hospice & Palliative Care Foundation, 1510 Fort Street, Victoria BC, V8S 5J2 would be much appreciated. 513175 Published in the Victoria Times-Colonist from 11/16/2008 - 11/18/2008