Sandra Elaine Lewis, was born on March 27, 1938 at her Aunt Myrtle’s home in Fulton, NY, and died peacefully at home in Berkeley, California, on December 5, 2011.
Sandra grew-up in Syracuse, NY, where her parents kept a home until 2000. Her father started a tree service company in 1948, and she would help out in the family business office when needed. Between her junior and senior year at Eastwood High School, in Syracuse, her world was broadened by a summer in Germany as an American Field Service Traveler.
She graduated from Eastwood High School in 1956, then graduated from Albany State Teacher’s College in 1960, and taught for a while at a high school in Syracuse. In 1964, she earned a masters degree from the Maxwell School of Public Policy at Syracuse University.
Sandra was married to James Angus Linney in 1965, and their friendship lasted even though the marriage did not. She had been working for the Arthritis Foundation in both Vermont and Washington, D.C. and after the marriage ended, she moved to Los Angeles, CA, to continue her work with the Foundation.
While in southern California, she earned a second masters degree in Comprehensive Health Planning from UCLA in 1970. After a move north, she earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco in 1984, and she had a thirty-year career as a psychotherapist in San Francisco and Oakland.
Sandra was gregarious and energetic, and she engaged with many organizations. She started attending Strawberry Creek Monthly Meeting (SCMM) in 1999, and became a member on April 10, 2005. She was active in several SCMM committees during that time. As an attender, she served on the Retreat committee, and as Strawberry Creek’s representative to (PYM) Pacific Yearly Meeting’s (UWN) Unity with Nature committee. She then co-clerked Peace & Social Witness committee and later served on it for several years. After she became a member, she served consecutively as Recording Clerk, on Adult Education and on Care of the Meeting committee, finally clerking it. Sandra served as representative to PYM’s Unity with Nature committee, for 6 different committee seasons, early in her time with us, and as her final service to SCMM.
She was a co-founder and active member of EcoBerries (a SCMM affinity group) for 11 years, as they worked on diverse and commingled environmental issues. She served on the board of several organizations, including Earthlight Magazine, Shenoa Retreat and Learning Center, Quaker Earthcare Bulletin, and the Metaphor Project. She supported the Quaker Institute for the Future (QIF) and participated in some of their summer seminars. She co-founded Close To Home, in Oakland, CA, and co-led the organization's talks and walks for several years.
Consistent with her beliefs and activities, Sandra wanted a simple burial using no fuel, no chemicals and no casket. She just wanted her body to be wrapped in a linen shroud and placed in the earth where other living things could best utilize it. She was buried in this way at the Fernwood Cemetery in Mill Valley, California. A simple rock lies at the surface with the words:
AWE, REVERENCE, GRATITUDE
Sandra was a complex person with a personality to match. She might be a joyous and provocative center of a gathering or of a committee. Or, she could be more introspective, curious, and studious. She grew to love walks or hiking in the hills of the East Bay. She was a good writer/composer and drafted many pieces of writing for different groups she participated in. She would often offer a good query. She loved to have a meal or tea with friends, and she loved to chat or get at the opinion of her company. She often acted as a provocateur, in order to draw out her companions. She was not afraid of a good discussion or even an argument, and she often held her ground, doggedly. But, she was a student, and could learn readily, after that argument was finished. Sandra wanted to move the world towards a better place, and she engaged those around her to get active and involved. She was generous with her self, her gifts and her limited material wealth, but she was not shy to ask for help when she was in need. She liked children, and could regularly be found helping in First Day School.
Sandra leaves behind many close friends and family. She is missed every day.