Deceased February 21, 2014

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In Memory

Our father, Dr. William Leon Sands '44, died at age 90 in Boston on February 21, 2014. Dad was born in Brooklyn to Irving and Cecile Sands, prominent leaders of medical and civic groups in that city.

Dad arrived at Amherst as the second World War began, and he always lamented that his years in the bucolic setting between the Pelham Hills and the Holyoke Range had been truncated by the call of duty. He had time at Amherst to run cross-country for a season and to join the Lord Jeff Club.

He left the college to attend Columbia University School of Physicians and Surgeons. He entered the Army Medical Corps and trained in San Antonio before being posted at Fort Ord in Monterrey, California.

Dad practiced as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He met his wife of 66 years, Phyllis Rosenthal (Wellesley '46), in New York City, and they eventually settled in Albany, NY. Dad maintained a  practice centered on individual and marriage counseling for 50 years.

Dad loved ballet and music, Tanglewood and Saratoga, and was an avid world traveler with Phyllis. He loved the Berkshires, tennis, and their wonderful home. He and Phyllis both maintained offices in the home and would join together to eat lunch in the kitchen.

Dad shared his love of Amherst with his family. His brother Richard followed him to Amherst and returned after the war to join the Class of '49. Amherst became a family legacy; also attending were his two sons, his daughter-in-law Lisa '87, and his two nephews Gordie '79 and Jeff '82.

He kept his class banner from 1944, and it hangs in Peter's house until this day. His room in his nursing home was decorated with reminders of the Fairest College. On his bed were two Amherst blankets and an Amherst pillow. An Amherst baseball cap and an Amherst mirror hung on the wall at the foot of his hospital bed.

He is survived by Phyllis, his devoted wife of 66 year; his sons Peter and Bob; his daughters Beth and Wendy; and three grandchildren.

Robert Sands '74
Peter Sands '86