John Alfred Sands

January 13, 1936 - September 07, 2011

John Alfred Sands

January 13, 1936 - September 07, 2011

Obituary

John was born in Woodford Green, England, January 13, 1936. During WWII the family moved out of London to avoid the bombs and lived in the country, returning to London at the end of the war. John and Maureen met in 1957 while John was a student at London University and Maureen was student nursing at Whipps Cross Hospital. They married in Kilkenny, Ireland in 1962 and had their first child, Sinéad, in Yorkshire, England in 1964 while John was in graduate school at Cranfield University. In 1965 they emigrated to Vancouver “for an adventure” as John described it, and to work as a civil engineer building bridges. In Canada their second child, Keith, was born in 1966. The following year John took a job as an engineer for Boeing in Seattle and the family moved again and had their third child, Julie. In 1969, John took an aeronautical engineering position at American Airlines in Tulsa where he remained for 30+ years. John was an avid reader and pilot, and loved to travel to new places and old, visiting friends and family in many different corners of the globe, and enjoyed hiking many peaks. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, and recently built a beautiful treehouse in Bellevue for Kennedy and Hudson. His love, humor, expertise in so many areas and the joy of his company will be missed by so many, and we look forward to being with him again. He was preceded in death by his son Captain Keith Sands and sister Joyce. John is survived by his wife of 49 years, Maureen, daughters Sinéad (Bijal) Shah, Julie (Shelby) Tyne, grandchildren Kennedy and Hudson Shah, Megan, Derryn, Calvin Tyne of South Africa, and hordes of relatives!

Memorial Service

  • Date & Time: September 13, 2011 (1:00 PM)
  • Venue: Church of St. Mary
  • Location: 1347 E. 49 Place Tulsa, OK 74105 - (Get Directions)

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