Racye Sanford, 95, died February 5, 2019 in her apartment at the Garden Villas of Lenexa and went to be with her Lord. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2019. Visitation begins at 10:30 a.m. with service to follow at 11:00a.m at McGilley and Frye Funeral Home, 105 E. Loula St., Olathe, KS 66061. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ladies Auxiliary of the Salvation Army of Olathe, The First Christian Church of Olathe or Interim Hospice.
Racye Modena (Thompson) Sanford was born on December 11, 1923 in Hoxie, Arkansas, the daughter of Homer and Vinnie Thompson.
Racye attended school in Thayer, Missouri and graduated from Thayer High School in 1941. She enjoyed singing in Mixed Chorus and being a member of Glee Club. She played girls’ volleyball and the team during her senior year won at the state tournament in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. She was a nanny for a family in Springfield, Missouri after high school. Later, she attended the Springfield College of Commerce.
Being from a railroad family, she rode the Frisco line back home to Thayer for the weekends. It was on the train where she met her husband-to-be, a young soldier, Stanley Sanford from Amoret, Missouri.
Racye met Stanley on December 8, 1941 on the noon train from Thayer. Racye was going back to business school and Stanley was in his Army uniform. She quickly remarked to her waiting mother, “I’m going to marry that man.”
Stanley took a seat next to Racye on the train and asked to read her newspaper. Stanley was shipping out from Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland to Bora Bora and sent his personal items to Racye.
She took a job for the Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C. as a civil service employee. She was a Government employee for over 25 years in Washington, D.C., Yuma, Arizona and Kansas City, Missouri.
Racye and Stanley were married on July 17, 1943 at the post chapel at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.
Stanley’s post military work was with the railroad as a brakeman. Their daughter Vicki was born in Springfield, Missouri in 1947. In 1958, they had a second daughter, Deborah in Kansas City.
As a couple, Racye and Stanley took many car trips across the country. From truck camper to travel trailer they saw almost all of the states. Of all her travels, she loved the God created beauty and geography of Utah. The Sanfords enjoyed the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. With her daughter ,Vicki, Racye took an Alaskan cruise.
Racye was a member of the First Christian Church of Olathe. Prior to that, she was a member for more than 25 years at The Ridgeview Christian Church in Kansas City, Missouri.
She served in The Ladies Auxiliary of the Salvation Army in Olathe.
Racye had many pastimes in her life. She was a loyal KC Royals fan especially during the days of Frank White and George Brett. She loved seeing a game at the beautiful Kaufman stadium. Reading was enjoyed until her last days, starting each day with the KC Star. For years Racye played the card game “Pitch” with four or five close girlfriends several times a month. She also enjoyed watching television game shows.
Racye was preceded in death by her husband Stanley of 49 years, her parents, her only brother Harold Thompson and her sister-in-law Wilma Jean Thompson of West Plains, Missouri and son-in-law Ed McCloskey of Newport News, Virginia.
Survivors include: two daughters, Vicki McCloskey and Debbie Jodts (Chuck) of Overland Park, Kansas , five grandchildren: Michael McCloskey (Pam) of Mesa, Arizona,; Shaun McCloskey (Jennie) of Wildwood, Missouri, Kerry Seck (Jason) of Raytown, Missouri, Brad Jodts (Danielle) of Overland Park, Kansas and Jennifer Hardy (Adam) of Las Vegas, Nevada. Mamaw had 13 great grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.
