Mary Ann Sanders

Mary Ann Sanders, 78, of Knoxville, took Jesus’ hand Tuesday evening, February 27, 2018, and passed peacefully from this life after a brief illness. She was born a coal miners daughter in Honaker, VA, March 23, 1939. She was a devoted wife, telling her husband of 62 years, George Clark Sanders, she would love him always, on her last day. My dad said she was the prettiest girl he ever met. They married with little, starting a family on the GI Bill and figuring out things as they went. Some times were good, some bad, there were times of little, and times of plenty as time went by, but they stuck together, working their way to a better life. First came Howard, me, followed in three year intervals by Scott, and finally Eric. They always discussed challenges and the future, before they forged ahead. We moved every few years chasing that American dream, and they would include us in these talks as we grew older. In those early years she worked for Sears and Regas here in Knoxville. If you knew Mary Ann, tell us how you met, because she never seemed to meet a stranger. When she moved to Knoxville, she made friends with members of the Fountain City Lions Club while out walking and was active with them until she began to have health issues. How many times did we go out to dinner and she would strike up a conversation with someone none of us knew? She loved and treasured her friends, especially Lou Ann Wilkerson She went to adult day care, at Howard Circle of Friends and came to life with her friends there. Dad would go to pick her up and find her dancing. As we grew up, she hosted summer long Monopoly games for us kids and our friends, picnics in the early 70’s on the Blue Ridge Parkway, all day boating on the Watauga, Boone or Holston lakes. She loved the outdoors and had a connection to the mountains. After we reached our teens, she went back to work. She was a personnel manager for K-Mart in Bristol, TN for many years and I remember how proud I was of her the year I graduated, because she had gone back and gotten her GED the same year. She wore her I LOVE KMART proudly for the last few year, along with her Lions Club badge. Ah, Mom…she was so proud of us…how many times in the past few years did I hear her tell strangers and caretakers, I have three sons, and me being the only one present, she was sure to recount every award and accomplishment in my life. And I was like “ah Ma.” Now tonight I feel that love so much…She was the biggest fan of us brothers, our advocate, our cheerleader, whether we were jocks or nerds, athletes or mathletes, hippies, or disco kings. She was there for my college graduation, insisting I go, there for Scott’s first gridiron play ending in a knockout, and Eric’s graduation from Marine Basic Training. She is survived and missed sorely by husband Clark, sons Howard and wife Linda, Scott and wife Darlene, beloved granddaughters Sami and Alie, and Eric and beloved grandson Tyler, and many several nieces and nephews. She is survived by her brother Gerald Monk, and preceded in death by beloved grandson Joseph, parents Odell and Clarence Monk, brothers Junior, Roy, Sherman, and sisters Shirley and Sue. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Alzheimer’s Tennessee, https://www.alztennessee.org/. Family will receive friends from 6 to 8, Friday 03/02/18 at Mynatt Funeral Home Halls Chapel. She will be interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Kingsport, TN, where she lived many years. Family and friends will meet 12:45pm Saturday at Oak Hill Cemetery in Kingsport for 1pm graveside service. I miss you so much, I can't stand it Seems like my heart, is breaking in two My head says no but my soul demands it Everything I do, reminds me of you… Van Morrison