W. C. David Sandals
SANDALS, William Charles David
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of David Sandals on March 27, 2026 at Hospice Wellington in Guelph. Despite his seven year battle with severe kidney disease David managed to reach 79 years of age.
David was predeceased by his parents Bill and Estle Sandals and his sister Mary Caesar. David was the beloved husband of Liz (nee MacNaughton) and the devoted father of Richard (Christine Passmore) and Allison Dawes (Ian). He was the proud Papa of Malcolm Sandals and William and Nathan Dawes. He will be deeply missed by sister-in-law Janis MacNaughton (Dave Parratt).
David grew up in Brampton where he spent his summers working on a cousin’s dairy farm. He attended the University of Guelph (where he met Liz) and graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) in 1972. After spending two years in rural Alberta practising Large Animal Medicine, David and Liz returned to Guelph in 1974 where David joined the faculty of the Clinical Studies Department at OVC to teach ambulatory large animal medicine with a particular interest in dairy cattle.
In addition to his teaching duties David served on the council of the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO) from 1986 to 1995. He served as CVO President in 1988/89 at a time when CVO was transitioning from an advocacy organization for veterinarians into the legally recognized professional and regulatory college for the veterinary profession in Ontario. His work with CVO led to David joining the team responsible for accrediting schools of veterinary medicine throughout North America.
David adored spending time at the MacNaughton family cottage on Lake Muskoka. There he enjoyed any and all DIY projects, including building Liz and David’s neighbouring cottage in 1987 and helping Allison and Ian complete their adjacent lakeside home in 2020. Cottage days were filled with enjoying the antics of his grandsons William, Nathan and Malcolm, reading countless novels, repairing anything that needed attention, servicing boats, and rounding out his days barbequing at sunset. The cottage was truly David’s happy place and the hub of family life.
David relished the opportunity to hear his son Richard play trumpet and attended countless performances from grade school to Principal Trumpet for the National Ballet of Canada.
David treasured his wife Liz beyond measure and was immensely proud of her accomplishments at the Wellington County/Upper Grand District School Board (1988-2003) and as a Cabinet Minister and Guelph’s MPP from 2003 to 2018. David was an integral part of Liz’s campaign team, by her side through all of her 8 successful elections. David was the lead on all Team Sandals signage throughout the decades, often seen at intersections repairing signage with level in hand for a perfect installation. David and Liz’s partnership was profound.
A Celebration of Life will be held at the Guelph Youth Music Centre (75 Cardigan St) on Monday April 6th commencing at 2:00 pm with remarks at 3:00 pm and concluding at 5:00 pm.
In lieu of flowers, Memorial Contributions to the Guelph Renal Clinic, The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital or Hospice Wellington would be appreciated.
Arrangements entrusted to the WALL-CUSTANCE FUNERAL HOME & CHAPEL 519-822-0051 / www.wallcustance.com.
A tree will be planted in memory of W. C. David Sandals in the Wall-Custance Memorial Forest.