Robert "Bob" Sanders

Robert James “Bob” Sanders was born August 4, 1949, in Fort Ord California to James Forrest Sanders and Lillian Louise (Demuth) Sanders.  He died March 30, 2022, in West Fargo North Dakota. 

For the first 7 years of his life Bob moved frequently due to his father’s Army assignments and deployments.  In 1956 the family settled in Tacoma Washington with his fathers’ final Army assignment at Fort Lewis.  Bob went to school in the Clover Park district and ultimately graduated from Clover Park High School in 1967.  During his senior year Bob joined the U. S. Naval Reserve, so immediately upon graduation he went to boot camp in San Diego California.

Bob went on active duty in the U. S. Navy in January 1968, serving first on the USS Marshall DD-676, the reserve training ship home ported in Tacoma Washington, then, after his promotion to Radioman 3rd Class he was transferred to the USS Cochrane DDG-21 home ported in Pearl Harbor Hawaii for its 1969 Westpac cruise to Viet Nam and surrounding areas.

After returning from the Navy, Bob went to work for the State of Washington in Olympia, first as a teletype operator for the Department of Motor Vehicles, then as a Communications Officer for the Washington State Patrol.  After 11 years as a WSP Comm Officer Bob transferred to the position of Data Communication Technician and finally System Administrator for the Washington State Patrol.  Bob retired from the state Patrol in June 1998.

With 2 failed marriages in his past, Bob met his soulmate in 1986.  He and Kathy E. Tuff Paulson were together for 34 years before finally tying the knot in August 2020.  They moved to West Fargo ND that same month.

Bob enjoyed woodworking in his basement shop in Olympia, working with computers during the DOS and early Windows days, and, later in life, genealogy where he found many cousins and ancestors he had not previously known.  Bob was a Life Member of the VFW, West Fargo Post 7564.

Bob is survived by his wife Kathy and stepchildren Nikki Footh (Paul) of Grays River Washington and Ryan Nielsen (Tara) of Fort Bragg NC and grandchildren Haley and Hannah Footh and Skylar and Autumn Nielsen.  He is also survived by a sister, Shari Blackett (Don) of Washougal, WA.  He is predeceased by his parents.

Cremation has occurred and Bob will be buried at the North Dakota Veteran’s Cemetery near Mandan ND this spring.

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