Harold Sands

June 2, 1925 - July 15, 2008

Harold Joseph Sands, 83, of the Lutheran Home and Rehabilitation Center, formerly of 145 Chandler St., died Monday (July 14, 2008) in WCA Hospital. He was born June 2, 1925 in New York City, the son of William James and Margaret Teresa Clarke Sands. He entered the Brothers of the Christian Schools Order in 1944 and served under the name of Brother Basilian Amidy until 1972. Mr. Sands attended Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and Manhattan College in New York City, earning a Bachelor of Science degree. He continued his education at Fordham University, where he earned a Master of Science degree, the University of Buffalo, where he earned a Masters degree in education, and at Jamestown Community College, where he earned an Associates degree, and was licensed by the New York State Department of Education as a registered nurse. From 1952 to 1963, Mr. Sands was Principal and Director of Community at St. Mary Magdalene Elementary School and at Sacred Heart Elementary School in New York. As a missionary in Kenya, he was the Headmaster and Director of Community at Kamwenja Training School between 1962 and 1969. Returning to the U.S., he served as a Reading Teacher and then as Director of the Boorady Reading Center in Dunkirk, New York until 1973. With his wife Helen Brummer Sands, he helped found the Gustavus Adolphus School in Jamestown, where he was Principal and Director of Education from 1973 to 1983. After receiving his R.N. in 1983, Mr. Sands worked for seven years as a nurse at Lutheran Social Services in Jamestown and at the Christian Brothers Nursing Home in Lincroft, New Jersey. In his retirement years, Mr. Sands served as a Director and volunteer for Hospice of Chautauqua County from 1990 to 1996. From 1997 to 2002, he worked as a volunteer at Our Lady of Loretto Church in Falconer New York. Mr. Sands was preceded in death by his brother, James Francis, and also by his wife, Helen Rosalind Brummer Sands, whom he married July 14, 1973, and who died May 27, 1978. Survivors include Mr. Sands' brother and sister-in-law, William and Elizabeth Sands of Bronx, New York, their children Robert Sands, Mary Ellen Sands Sivak, and Judith Sands Mahonski; also by his nephew William Gerard Sands of Wallingford Connecticut, his nieces Margaret Romano of Lady Lake, Florida and Kathleen Sands of Roslindale, Massachusetts. He also leaves Rita Marsh of Bemus Point, Ann Aversa of Falconer, and many other beloved friends, former students, and co-workers whose lives he truly blessed. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 A.M. Tuesday in St. James Catholic Church. The Rev. John Kuhlmann will be celebrant. Burial will be in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kenmore, N.Y. The family will receive friends for one hour prior to the funeral mass Tuesday in the church. Email messages to the family may be sent by visiting the website www.presentsixbeyfuneral.com. Memorials may be made to Hospice Chautauqua County, 4840 West Lake Rd., Mayville, N.Y. 14757. Powers, Present & Sixbey Funeral Home is handling arrangements.