Sandra Wood

Sandra Wood, staff worker of Madonna House, died peacefully on 22 October 2022 in Windsor, ON., where Sandra had been serving in the Madonna House mission located in that city since 2009.

Sandra, daughter of Henry and Edith (Robinson) Wood, was born in Calgary, Alberta. She attended high school in Edmonton, Alberta. After graduation, she began working for the Government of Canada Armed Services in Edmonton, then transferring to Whitehorse, YK. It was there that she encountered Madonna House, and where she was baptized in the Catholic Church.

She arrived at Madonna House, Combermere, in May of 1958 and made her first promises to the Community on 26 March 1969. Sandra spent many years working in the gardens and as a beekeeper in Combermere. During this time, she expanded her knowledge in herbs and herbal remedies, receiving a diploma as a chartered herbalist from the Dominion Herbal College in 1978. For many of these years, she served “winter assignments” at mission houses of Madonna House in Edmonton, Alberta; Regina, Saskatchewan; Victoria, Grenada, West Indies.

From 1983 to 2004, Sandra served as Local Director at St. Joseph House, Combermere, attending to the needs of local people. Then, in 2010, she was asked to assume the responsibility of local director in Windsor, ON, for some five years, and continued to serve friends of the house in that area for another seven years while not carrying the responsibility of directing the house.

Sandra was predeceased by her parents, Henry and Violet, and by her brother, Gerry and his wife, Vivian. Besides her Madonna House family, she is survived by her brother, Larry and his wife, Joyce, and by her sister, Margaret.

Wake services for Sandra were held on Wednesday, October 26, in Windsor. The Reception of the Body will be held at St. Mary’s Chapel, Madonna House, Combermere, on Friday, October 28, at 1:30 p.m., followed by a wake from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. on that day. A Wake Service will take place in St. Mary’s Chapel at 8 p.m. on Friday. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, October 29, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Mary’s Chapel with interment in the Madonna House cemetery. A reception will follow.