Marguerite "Peggy" Hynes Sandford

Born in 1932 just outside of Queens, New York, Peggy was the daughter of Ruth Sechler of Brooklyn and Dr. James Gordon Hynes of Cornwall, NY. She had a younger sister, Joan, and younger twin brothers, Jim and Dan. Peggy also grew up with her widowed grandmother, Laura Sechler.

Peggy was 13 when her family left Long Island to live briefly in Auburn, NY, then East Lansing, MI and finally Redlands, California, which became the family homestead.

When Peggy got to Redlands, she discovered that the senior year classes she had been planning to take in Michigan were not offered at the new high school, so she was allowed to take classes at Redlands University, where her father was chairman of the Religious Studies department. It was there she discovered her love for classical music and studied to become a classical music singer and an organist. Peggy loved to tell about getting practice time on the large organ at the University, and would play whatever time of the day or night she could.

It was also as a student at Redlands University that Peggy met fellow musician, Gordon Sandford, of nearby Ontario, California, then a graduate student at Redlands. Peggy and Gordon married in 1952 and settled in southern California. In the 1950s and 1960s Peggy performed in numerous recitals and musical productions, and led church choirs. Her portrayal of Katisha in a 1953 production of The Mikado drew enthusiastic reviews in southern California newspapers. In her music and life, Peggy was an exacting personality—her high standards for music never left her.

Between 1957 and 1961, Peggy and Gordon had three children, Jim (Janelle), Claire (Warren), and Paul (Tina). The family moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1966. Peggy’s marriage to Gordon ended in the mid-1980s. She later had a long-standing loving relationship with L. Doten Bush until his death in 2016.

In addition to her three children and their spouses, Peggy leaves grown grandchildren Leigh Poehls, Erik Olander, Emily Sandford, Evan Sandford, Alexandra Sandford, Lauren Mills and Derek Franz, as well as great-grandchildren Silas, Leyden, Theo, Navi, Adrian and Beck. She is also survived by her brother, Dan, of Redlands, California.

In her later years Peggy was known to her fellow residents at Beatrice Hover as a keen and merciless bridge player. She will be missed by all.

Donations in Peggy’s name to the Longmont Humane Society (http://longmonthumane.org) are welcome in her honor.