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Wanda McKinney Obituary

WANDA "Sandy" McKinney Sandy was born on February 20, 1925 in Baton Rouge, LA to Mildred Chew Carradine and Julian Sandefur and passed away in Silver City, NM on March 29, 2011. She was preceded in death by two husbands, Friend Cheadle Van Fleet III and John Reynolds McKinney and her son Jalal McKinney. She is survived by her children Janet Van Fleet of Cabot, VT, Gail Simms of Gidgegannup, Western Australia, and Sean Matthew McKinney of Belvidere, NJ, as well as 8 grandchildren and her companion of 20 years, Richard Fox. Sandy lived in Santa Fe and La Cienega from 1957 - 1975, working as a medical laboratory technician and as the manager of Landscape Magazine. She and her husband John McKinney were well known in the arts community. She passed through many phases, and at each turning she reinvented herself in a lifelong quest for understanding. She was a navy wife, a medical technician, a toy maker, museum director, poet (Body Grief, 2003), critic (for The Alsop Review) and translator (of the Andalusian poet Rafael Guillen, I'm Speaking, Northwestern University Press, 2001). She studied at the Universidad Nacional de Mexico in her 30s, earned an MFA in writing from Goddard College in Plainfield, VT in her 50s and qualified for her captain's license in her 60s, operating a charter boat out of Key West, FL. She was a Baha'i, a Gurdjieffian, a Unitarian-Universalist and a Swedenborgian. Sandy accumulated new identities without ever discarding the old ones, her character growing richer and more colorful with the years. She loved to be outrageous, and she hated onions.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Santa Fe New Mexican on Apr. 12, 2011.

Memories and Condolences
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4 Entries

April 13, 2011

It's difficult to imagine a world without Sandy in it! I'll lmiss knowing she is among us, adventuring, searching, laughing, loving, creating! Sandy was a huge part of my life in Santa Fe during the 1960s--wise witness to many youthful rites of passage--larger than life--the most alive person I've ever known. Happy newest adventure, dear Sandy! Remembering you forever, Jane (Nettle Harvey).

The Gentle Nudge - Santa Fe circa 1975

Dan Bush

April 12, 2011

Dan Bush

April 12, 2011

I've just learned of Sandy's passing...

She remains so vivid in my mind that I can't say goodby to such a present spirit...
I'll just express gratitude for having felt her warmth and been touched by her generosity.
She struggled all her life to prepare herself for a higher consciousness, yet if I had to choose a person who by sheer humor excelled all others, it would be difficult to find someone above Sandy...
She was an optimist, though perhaps a pessimist about her optimism.

Peace be to her soul!

April 12, 2011

We miss you Sandy and wishing you well on your new journey...we're still using your dishes from Mexico and think of you, John and the kids often. with much love John, Marybeth, Marisa, Peter Wolf.

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