Obituary of Alexandra WEST (nee Watt)

November 5, 1942 – Glasgow, Scotland
September 18, 2020 - Bragg Creek, Alberta

Alexandra (Sandy) West passed away peacefully and unexpectedly on Friday, September 18, 2020, just a few weeks before her 78th birthday.

Born and educated in Scotland, Sandy graduated from the University of Aberdeen with Honours in English Literature in 1964. In September that same year, she set sail with a friend from Greenock to Canada, to pursue graduate studies at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. On her first morning in Edmonton, she fell in love with Alberta’s golden fall. Her doctoral work was on American poetry. 

In Edmonton she met and married fellow graduate student (geophysicist), Kenneth West. They spent some time in Vancouver where Ken was teaching before settling in Calgary. Sandy taught at Mount Royal College before joining the faculty of the University of Calgary c.1977 as an Assistant Professor, then Associate Professor in the Department of English. She served as Assistant Dean of Humanities under fellow Scot, Dean Peter Craigie. 

Sandy was a most valued teacher, recipient of the students’ Teaching Excellence Award. She was in heart, mind and soul an educator. She loved to communicate her passion for poetry and ideas to her young students. Sandy was also a most trusted colleague, always willing to spend time deliberating with fellow teachers about the work of education. 
With her family, she moved to Bragg Creek in 1983 and this became for Sandy a cherished foothills home. It is some consolation that she died there, looking out on Moose Mountain while leaves were turning gold. In her last days, she was much moved by a poem she shared with friends, “Storing September” by Elizabeth Rooney. 

I’ll tell you what I did today ---
I stored September.
Sat in the sun and let the sun sink in,
Let all the warmth of it caress my skin.
When winter comes, my skin will still remember
The day I stored September.

While students will remember her inspiring teaching, her many, many friends, scattered around the world, will remember her special gift for friendship. Along with neighbours, she will be remembered with great personal affection for her generous hospitality. Her large dining table was the centre of her home. Sandy leaves a big hole in many people’s lives.

Sandy was a devoted mother and grandmother. She is survived by sons, Aaron (Jacqueline) and their children, Erika and Lauren and Graeme (Danni) and their children Lucas and Madeline all of  Calgary. She is also survived by her brother John and his wife Lindsay in Scotland. She was predeceased by her husband Ken. (d. 2013) 

Condolences, memories and photos may be shared and viewed on Sandy’s obituary at www.McInnisandHolloway.com.  If friends so desire, memorial tributes in Sandy’s name may be made to the Cochrane & Area Humane Society at www.cochranehumane.ca.

In living memory of Alexandra West, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES, Fish Creek, 14441 Bannister Road SE, Calgary, AB T2X 3J3, Telephone: 403-256-9575.