Obituary: Sandra “Sandy” Baird, 1940-2025

It is with the heaviest of hearts and deepest sadness that we tell you about Sandy (Sandra L.) Baird’s life in the context of her unexpected passing on February 10, 2025. She died suddenly in Burlington, Vt., with her family at her side: lifelong friend and partner Grant Crichfield, daughter Rosanna (“Rosie”) Crichfield, grandson Nathan G. Allard.

Sandy grew up in Springfield, Mass., in a household composed of her parents and eventually five children — Sandy was the middle child. Her father had come to the U.S. from Scotland as an adolescent with his parents and siblings; Sandy often displayed her strong pride in being Scottish by wearing clothing or jewelry made of the Baird clan plaid or crest. Sandy’s household and that of her grandparents were near one another, with a lot of exchange between them. Living on a dead-end street at the edge of the Springfield College campus, Sandy for the first 10 years of her childhood lived not only in a family of all boys but also on a street with only boys as playmates, she being the only girl. In later years she became an active feminist but always had the ability to get along with men and often related to them as comrades and brothers, perhaps an extension of her childhood years. Her mother’s parents had come from Longueuil, Québec, to Plattsburgh, N.Y., and then to Springfield. Sandy’s mother was bilingual; Sandy thus often heard Scottish English and French at home. Perhaps for that reason, Sandy took a good bit of French right through graduate school and participated in local French activities in Burlington. Their home was situated near Watershops Pond, the place where she learned to swim, an activity she always continued in Burlington. Sandy felt proud of Springfield, based on her experiences growing up in an attractive city with a pond, woods, college, neighborhood movie theater and bus system at her fingertips and superior public schools, as well. She often took a drive to Springfield with Grant or Rosie and Nathan or friends to revisit.

Sandy graduated from Classical High School in Springfield and attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, from which she graduated with honors; there she especially loved history, which became her major. That’s also where she met Grant Crichfield — they were both 18 years old; this was a connection that continued in various forms her entire life. By coincidence, they both decided to attend graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she pursued a master’s degree in history and education. Employed by an afterschool job at a diner while in high school and then by insurance companies in Boston and Madison, she learned that her passions in life were political action and intellectual involvements, and she pursued them throughout her existence.

While in Madison, she and Grant decided to get married, which they did in 1965. After a few years, they adopted two girls, Caroline in Madison and Rosie in Burlington. While they eventually divorced, they decided to try to salvage the positive aspects of their connection, which they did the rest of her years. From the girls’ babyhoods forward, Sandy and Grant took them to many places — Paris and Nice in France; Massachusetts to visit family; later to Martha’s Vineyard and Rhode Island beaches for summer vacations; New York City and New Jersey to visit friends and see shows and the sights. Later, tragedy struck when Caroline was killed at age 30 in an incident of domestic violence. This spurred Sandy’s commitment to legal and personal work on the issue of domestic violence and led to the creation of the Caroline Baird Crichfield Fund for Women in Need, which is still very active. When Rosie had a son, Nathan, Sandy was overjoyed at this addition to her family and was always proud of and tried to encourage his progress. Rosie and Nathan live in Sandy’s house in Burlington; Sandy always tried to make it a safe harbor for all of her family and their friends.

Sandy finished her master’s degree and taught history at Edgewood High School, a Catholic institution in Madison, and discovered she loved teaching, a profession she practiced much of the rest of her life in Burlington public schools, including Edmunds School, which Caroline, Rosie and Nathan all subsequently attended. Sandy gave courses at several colleges in Vermont, especially Burlington College, where she became a popular and award-winning member of the core faculty. Finally, in recent years, she gave televised talks, seminars and presentations under the auspices of the Vermont Institute for Community and International Involvement, which she had created and loved doing.

Having grown up in a family that held strong political enthusiasms and often engaged in heated discussions, she continued in that way always thereafter. She was without fail very well informed about history and politics and enjoyed debate and discussion. One didn’t want to be on a side opposing her views unless an expert on the topic. Other aspects of Sandy’s political life were her run for mayor of Burlington and her election to two terms in the Vermont House of Representatives.

Her devotion to civic engagement was reflected by the numerous political and social-change entities of which she was not only a member but also many times the/a founder. She was a member of the committee that founded the Women’s Health Center, which offered abortions a year before Roe v. Wade was decided. She won many awards over her life, not only for teaching but also for other activities; while Peter Clavelle was mayor of Burlington, he declared a Sandy Baird Day in recognition of her contributions. Having decided to become a lawyer, she did not attend law school but rather studied law as a law clerk, preparing for the bar exam under the sponsorship of John Dooley, eventual justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. She practiced in her early law career with the Chittenden County State’s Attorney Office, then Vermont Legal Aid, and ultimately operated her own law office in Burlington and most recently at the Association of Africans Living in Vermont. Her focus was always on people who were underrepresented — as a result, her practice was often one of family law cases.

Sandy enjoyed and participated in a wide range of activities ranging from swimming in Lake Champlain (weather permitting, she went to the beach at least for a dip every day) to trips to the ocean. She loved movies — she typically saw a movie a week (often on Sundays with Grant) — musicals, popular music, clothes, jewelry (she was a sharp dresser). She had plans to join a choir (she was a good singer) and attended many kinds of social gatherings. Loving a good time, she recently purchased a black Ford Mustang, which created many comments, enthused reactions and a lot of fun. As she put it, ”I’m having an old-life crisis and always wanted a standard-shift Mustang.” Travel was high on her list: She fell in love with the people and culture of Cuba on her first trip there decades ago and continued that connection with numerous visits and the founding of a study abroad program, including the University of Havana, through Burlington College. When Grant’s work took him to Nice, France, for a year, she of course went with him — and that with two children in diapers and a cat and a dog. They took a trip almost every year and visited many countries in Europe, North Africa, Asia and the Soviet Union (twice), as well as Canada, Central America and the Caribbean. Sandy also participated in a delegation that made an official trip from Burlington to Palestine and Israel. Sandy often integrated her observations from travel into her activities, be it a course she taught on the “City in History” or a course on comparative legal systems.

Sandy really lived life to the fullest until the day she died. Many of us would modify that to: She lived her life at warp speed until the evening she died. She had a sense of mission that energized her to participate in a staggering number of organizations, movements, demonstrations, meetings, alliances, presentations and more. Her commitment to her notions of justice, fairness, equality, learning, peace and nonviolence governed her activities all her life, and the more so toward the end, when she knew her time among us was limited simply by her age. She had great compassion and an unstoppable drive to help the oppressed.

Sandy was predeceased by her daughter Caroline Baird Crichfield; her parents, Beatrice Aubrey Baird and Charles Baird; and three brothers, Vincent Baird, Charles Baird, Jr. and Rodney Baird.

Sandy leaves behind her friend/partner, Grant Crichfield, her daughter Rosanna E. Crichfield and her grandson, Nathan Grant Allard, all of Burlington; and her sister, Bonnie Baird, Bonnie’s husband, Cliff Sosnow, and their daughter, Laura Sosnow, all of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Sandy’s survivors include numerous relatives in the Springfield, Boston and Wilbraham, Mass., and Syracuse, N.Y., areas; and in Denver, Colo., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Sandy strongly disliked the cold and snow, and so a celebration of Sandy’s life will be held in the Burlington area on a date this spring to be announced at a later time.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Sandy’s memory can be made to the Caroline Baird Crichfield Fund for Women in Need or a favorite charity.

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This article appears in Love & Marriage Issue 2025.