Margene Sanford was born February 2, 1952, in Lewiston, Idaho to James Edward and Dorothy Agnes (Cash) Sanford. As the eldest of five surviving children, she took very seriously what she felt was her responsibility to mother her siblings.
Margene attended school in Lewiston, graduating from Lewiston High School in 1970. After graduation, she traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area to spend time with a favorite aunt and then traveled all over Kansas visiting relatives. After returning home to Lewiston, she worked for several months during harvesting season cooking on a farm near Grangeville, Idaho. In 1971, Margene moved to Vale, Oregon, where she worked for three years at Nolan Field Insurance in their Vale office.
Margene attended a worldwide non-denominational Christian fellowship from before her birth. At the age of ten, she expressed her personal choice to serve God and continued faithfully in her service until she entered into eternal rest. In 1974, Margene began serving in the ministry in Saskatchewan, Canada. She continued in the ministry until 1996, at which time she began caring for our developmentally disabled brother, Jimmy, in Yakima, Washington. She continued to care for Jimmy until his death in 2015. Margene was not able to return to the ministry because of health problems but her heart never left the ministry. She worked as an apartment manager, as a nanny, as a house sitter, and as a pet sitter from 2015 until 2023.
Margene also enjoyed home canning fruits and vegetables, gardening, and cooking. Margene had an absolute green thumb when it came to her house plants and propagating new plants from their leaves. She especially enjoyed sewing and loved the feel of the fabric in her hands. Margene loved music and loved playing the piano from the time she was a small child. She also loved to play the violin, the organ, and the accordion.
Margene Sanford died from cancer at Cottage on the Meadow Hospice on September 21, 2023. She was preceded in death by her parents, in 2007 and 2009, by a stillborn brother in 1950, and by her brother, James (Jimmy) in 2015. Margene is survived by two sisters, June (Jim) Adams of Yakima, Washington and Wilma Sanford of Selah, Washington, by one brother, Mark (Georgia) Sanford of Vale, North Carolina, by two nieces, Amy (Kevin) Reep, and Amanda (Junior) Reep, of Vale, North Carolina, three great-nieces and one great-nephew, also of Vale, North Carolina.
A Visitation is scheduled for Friday, October 6, from 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm at Keith & Keith Funeral Home, located at 902 W. Yakima Avenue, Yakima, Washington.
The Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, October 7, at 10:00 am at Keith & Keith Funeral Home. A reception will be held immediately following the funeral service.
