Sandra Macintyre

Sandra Macintyre, 80, of Chandler, Arizona, passed away peacefully on June 12. Her last few days were spent surrounded by her closest family members.

She was born on December 11, 1942 in Methlick, Scotland to parents Esther and Alexander Chisholm, and named Alexandria after her father. She had one younger brother, John (now deceased). Sandra is survived by her husband of 60 years, Donald, their two sons, Russell and Craig and their wives, and four grandchildren.

Sandra attended the Royal College of Business in Glasgow, Scotland and worked in television production for the next few years. She married Donald Macintyre on March 23, 1963. Four years later they emigrated to the U.S., along with their 2-year-old son, where Donald worked in electrical engineering. Sandra was employed as part of a newly formed TV station and presented the stock market report on-air. Later, the family moved to Tempe, Arizona, where Sandra was again employed in TV production with NBC.

In 1975, she began a transition into the field of professional fund-raising (also known as development). Sandra first held the position as Assistant Director of Planning and Development at St. Luke’s Hospital, followed by Assistant Director of Development with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra.

The family moved back to Massachusetts in 1979 after Donald received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from A.S.U. Sandra continued her career as Director of Development at Hahnemann Holden Health System and then as Executive Director at the South Shore Health & Educational Foundation.

In 1988, she formed a partnership with another fund-raising professional and, when her partner retired, she reformed the company as Macintyre Consulting Group. In 2004, she accepted a position as Vice President of Development with Banner Health in Arizona. Subsequently, she became Director of Major Giving at PetSmart, until retiring in 2007.

Sandra held a number of affiliations and board positions, including Rotary International, United Way, Worcester Art Museum, Higgins Armory Museum, Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul Society, and Phoenix Art Museum. She was a member of the Worcester Cultural Commission for the City of Worcester. She was recognized as the City of Worcester’s Woman of Consequence in 2004, and received the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Award for Excellence in 1998 and 2004. Her educational qualifications included Certified Fund-raising Executive and National Association of Fund-raising Executives Certification.

Her hobbies included cooking, all forms of knitting and needlework, traveling, entertaining, and music. She was a member, along with her mother and father, of the Arizona Scottish Singers in the seventies, and, more recently, directed an entertainment singing group for an Elks Club in Phoenix. She loved to sing at parties, formal events, and local nursing homes.