Marjorie Sands

Marjorie Sands, 88, of Stowe died peacefully at her home in Copley Woodlands on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015.

She was born Oct. 30, 1926, one of three children of Charles and Eva Straka Wayman of Afton, N.Y. After graduating from Afton High School in 1944, Marjorie earned a degree as a registered nurse in 1947 from St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in New York City.

She returned to Afton, and in December of that year married Homer J. Sands. They had two children, Linda and Larry.

After the family moved to Norwich, N.Y., Marjorie began to expand her career paths. She enrolled at the State College of New York at Oneonta and earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1965, commuting back and forth from Norwich several times a week. She received a master’s degree from Oneonta in 1968, by which time she was teaching high school English at Norwich Senior High School and at nearby Sherburne High School.

Yearning to see New England, Marge returned to her nursing roots a few years later and moved to Boston, where she was a rehabilitation staff nurse for the Insurance Company of North America. That experience served her well when she moved to Syracuse and became a supervising nurse in adolescent drug rehabilitation at Hutchings Psychiatric Hospital, a position she maintained until retiring several years later.

In 1994, Marge attended her 50th high school class reunion and again met Chester Cuyle, an original classmate whom she had not seen in 50 years. The two married in September 1997 and decided to move to Vermont to be closer to Marge’s son, Larry.

Marge had boundless energy. She loved her dogs and had several and would walk them tirelessly. She enjoyed skiing and an occasional bike trip. In her early years, she loved to travel and saw much of Europe with her daughter when Linda was studying at the University of Munich and in Stuttgart. She cared deeply about many humanitarian causes. She loved bluegrass, and took banjo lessons. It often seemed that the walls of Copley Woodlands could not contain all of her energy.

Linda Sands Norton died in 2004; Chester Cuyle died in 2013; Homer Sands died in 2014.

Survivors include her son, Larry Sands of Stowe; a brother, James Wayman, and a sister, Irene Bush, both of Afton, N.Y.; nephews and nieces, and cousins Donnie Bush Jr., Debbie Bush and Kay Dabroski of Syracuse, N.Y.; her extended family and friends at Copley Woodlands; and her beloved Walker hound, Shiloh.