Lois Ardelle Sanders

October 29, 1931 to December 9, 2019

Lois was born on October 29th, 1931 at her grandparent’s farm home Nels & Celeste, ( ‘Mush’) Nelson with a midwife in St Onge, South Dakota (located on Highway 34 in Lawrence County in the heart of the Black Hills) to John Leroy and Mary Reva Chamberlain. She joined 2 brothers, Alton and Dave. Later on, brother Larry was born…so, yes, Lois had 3 brothers. She always mentioned she wanted a sister!

The story that Mom told was that they called the midwife, and she went to John & Reva’s house, and nobody was home. So, she naturally went to the grandparent’s home, thank heaven. It was very cold during that time, so in order to keep the newborn warm, Reva wrapped her up and placed her in the drawer of the cookstove.

Her father worked on Nels & Mush’s farm at that time. But, later the family moved to Lead, South Dakota because John was hired to work in the Homestake Gold Mine in the Black Hills.

Lois started school in Lead (pronounced Leed), in kindergarten at St Patrick’s Catholic school. She always liked school, because even though she was very shy, she made friends easily…all girls! One vivid memory she shared was that the bathrooms were located in the basement, and it was so dark and scary. She tried to wait until one of her girlfriends needed to use the facilities so that she didn’t have to go down there alone.

When Lois was 10 years old, Reva made a life changing decision to move the family to Oregon, because John had developed long complications from working in the Mine (called black lung disease). She wanted to make sure that her son’s would never work in the Mine. It was in 1942 after the school year ended. They moved into a small house on Kapan street in north Salem. Later, they moved to a bigger and nicer house on Pringle street, this is where Lois spent the rest of her school days.

The elementary schools Lois attended were Garfield, Highland, and Hayesville. Then, after moving to the Pringle street house, she attended Parrish Junior High and Salem High School. She graduated with the class of 1950. She made lifetime friends there and many of them still socialize today. She met friends Lavurne, Jody, Mary and many other girlfriends. They are known as the Nifty Fifty’s. During her years at Salem High, she played the flute in the marching band, and was a member of the Vikettes (Pep Club), and was Junior Class Treasurer. Her brother Dave talked her into running and helped her with her speech. On the day of the elections and for her speech, Dave taped dollar bills to her from head to toe, under the political promise that ‘Money Sticks to me’! She won the election, however she always felt it was all of Dave’s friends and fans that voted for her. (he was a star athlete at SHS). After school each day, Lois walked home with her friend Jody to Jody’s apartment on Ferry street. This is where Lois and Ellis met. Ellis’ parents, George and Tressie Sanders, owned and lived in the apartments. George was a carpenter/contractor and was remodeling the apartments so he could ‘flip’ the building. One day, Jody and Lois were sitting on the steps in front of the apartments, and Ellis joined them. This is when all the stars, the moons and the Divine plan all aligned. Later, Ellis was drafted into the Army, stationed at Fort Ord, just south of San Jose. He spent the rest of his service at Scofield barracks in Oahu, Hawaii. After graduation, Lois and Jody went to Santa Rosa Junior College just north of San Francisco and west of Sacramento, to study bookkeeping. Here, she met Carole Ennis who also became a lifetime friend. During the 2nd year after winter term, Lois and Carole checked out of Santa Rosa JC and enrolled in a college in Hawaii. When she told her dad, he told her ‘NO, you are not’! So, she enrolled in Salinas Junior College to finish her Associates degree. (Santa Rosa JC classes were full). She played in the band there.

When Ellis was discharged from the Army and Lois graduated, they were married on November 22, 1952 at First Congregational Church in Salem. They enjoyed 67 years of marriage, and my Ellis always called her ‘his bride’. There are certain things that belong together: Peanut butter & jelly, shoes & socks, locks & keys, and mac & cheese, but the sweetest pair is: Ellis and Lois . They completed each other.

Lois started to work at the Willamette Bookstore as a bookkeeper and store clerk. For a reference she mentioned that she worked at the bookstore while attending SRJC. She got the job, but later admitted she only had worked there for 2 weeks.

Later when Lois was about 5 months pregnant with Becky, she had to resign, because Willamette had a policy that pregnant women could not work there.

Her children are: Rebecca (Becky) Hughes, Jennifer (Jen) Blakley (Charlie), and Jeffery. She was a stay-at-home mom, and because of health issues, this was a perfect choice. During this time she became involved with the Marion County Extension group. They met monthly to learn new ideas about homemaking, etiquette, and to socialize. This included working at the Oregon State Fair for the Marion County, where she logged in and guarded the cakes and baked goods and prepared them for judging. However, with Lois’ ‘sweet tooth’, this might not have been the best spot for her (just kidding). She also worked for the Marion County Elections during the major elections. She was a manager at the Morningside School voting poll, this was back when we voted in person. Later, she worked at the Seaman Corporation- owners of several McDonald’s as a bookkeeper and payroll clerk. She worked there until Ellis retired.

Lois also was a member of the Red Hat Society along with a few friends from high school, the last function she attended was September 2019. She was a member of the Organ Guild, and she was a member of Morningside Methodist Church.

Yes, Lois had a sweet tooth, she even tried hiding candy, so that Jenny and Jeff would not find it. Her motto was, ‘eat dessert first’, so that happened sometimes on her birthday and Mother’s day. Her favorites were root beer floats, suckers, lemon bars and chocolate. She also loved Burger King and shopping. Jenny and Charlie would sneak Whopper Jrs and fries to the hospital to motivate her to eat. Her favorite color was purple, she felt it wasn’t just a color…it is an attitude.

As far as I can remember, she never told a lie and only said 1 swear word (this took place after her stroke when she was learning to talk again and she was very frustrated. (so, that doesn’t count, right?).

Mom was the sweetest of them all, and not just because she loved sweets. She never put herself first, and was loving, kind, and honest. She never knew a stranger – she lit up the room. She suffered from health issues since she was young, and overcame obstacles bigger than herself. She was a brave soul.

She is survived by her soulmate and husband of 67 years; Ellis Sanders, daughters Rebecca (1955) and Jennifer (1957), and son Jeffery (1960). She is also survived by grandchildren Rachel Wullbrandt (Rob), Jordan Hughes, and Shannon Simi. Also, great-grandchildren Emma Wullbrandt, Lauren Wullbrandt, Dominik Simi and Kaleigha Simi. There are many nephews, nieces, cousins, etc that survive her.

She is predeceased by her parents: John and Reva Chamberlain, brothers: Alton, Dave and Larry.

The family wants to thank Brighton Hospice and Boone Ridge Senior Living Community for their tender love care during her last days, Lois now is in the loving arms of Jesus Christ her Savior, and has a heavenly body; no more suffering, she is making music with the Angels.

The Celebration of Life Service will be at 2:00 pm on Friday, December 20th at Morningside Methodist Church – 3674 12th St SE; Salem, OR 97302. Please join us and be prepared to share a memory of her.