Obituary of Donald Sanders

Donald Michael Sanders died on July 2, 2014 while working outside on his farm home in Pinnacle, NC. His passing resulted from a tragic accident involving a riding lawn mower. Donald was 68 years old.

Donald was born on July 30, 1945 in Pleasant Grove Township, Johnston County, North Carolina to the late Willis Vance and Vernona Austin Sanders. He was the youngest of thirteen children and grew up on the family farm. He attended Cleveland High School and graduated from Apex High School in 1964. He received his B.S. in Business Education from Campbell University in 1969. He married Betty Jo Thompson in 1981.

Donald was a member of Shoals United Methodist Church in Pinnacle where he took his family in their early years and attended King's Park Church in Raleigh in his later days with his son. He never missed an opportunity to be with his children and the rest of his family. He took time to teach his children the values of life he found most important, including respect, diligence and perseverance. His love for his family and his home always showed in the work he did and the life he led.

Donald's adult work life included teaching school in Harnett County for a short period of time before joining the North Carolina Department of Insurance as an insurance examiner. After several years with this agency he worked for Universal Insurance Company in Winston-Salem as Vice President. When the company was sold he joined Regulatory Insurance Services as a Certified Financial Examiner representing the state of Delaware and worked in the same capacity for the West Virginia Department of Insurance. In this capacity he traveled to most major cities across the U. S. to perform his work.

Upon retirement in 2012 Donald enjoyed working on his farm near Pinnacle and restoring a recent acquisition of an older home near the former home place of his grandparents located on Sanders Road in Johnston County. He was an avid Wolfpack fan and enjoyed being with his large extended family and many friends. He loved and maintained frequent contact with members of his extended family as well.

Among those surviving who will miss Donald include his loving daughter Sydney Lane Sanders (fianc Chad Martin) of Myrtle Beach, SC, his loving son, Michael Avery Sanders of Raleigh, who is a rising senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering at N.C. State University and brothers Robert Sanders (Emma) of Raleigh, Lewis Sanders (Gail) of Chapel Hill, Dewey Sanders (Bartlett) of Raleigh, sisters Betty Smith (John) of Raleigh, Callie Sorrell (Don) of Apex, Jane Johnson (Paul) of Willow Spring and sixteen nieces and nephews and their children. In addition to his parents, Donald was preceded in death by brothers, Wilbur, Willis, David, Raymond, John and sister Judy.

A Service to celebrate the life of Donald Sanders will be held at 2:00 p.m., Friday, July 11, 2014 at Montlawn Funeral Home Chapel.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 1-2:00 p.m., prior to the service.

Arrangements are by Montlawn Funeral Home, 2911 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh, NC. Condolences can be made at www.montlawn.com