Retha LaVerne Sanders

Retha LaVerne Sebaugh was born on September 5, 1940, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to Ovis and Jessie Allen Sebaugh. She was a lifelong Missourian, spending most of her years in Sikeston, where she raised her family.

Those who knew LaVerne knew she was never far from a warm, sweet smile, and that remained true to her final days. She was a devoted wife to Jimmy Sanders, her husband of 65 years, and a loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Family was the heart of her life. She and Jimmy traveled together to Germany, Alaska, and beyond, and they treasured the years spent with her parents and with her brother Allen and his wife Ann.

Her faith ran deep. A longtime member of First Christian Church in Sikeston, she served as an elder and sang in the choir, where her love of music found its home. She loved puzzles, sewing, reading, and travel, and her family will long remember the farmhouse sewing room she happily shared with a pool table, fabric and thread always strewn across the green felt.

To her grandchildren, LaVerne was the woman who made every Halloween costume dream a reality, from Barney to Belle to Tinkerbelle. She set scalloped potatoes on the Thanksgiving table every year, kept butter cookies on hand for small hands to find, and never missed sending a hand signed birthday card, an act of love that continued well into her grandchildren’s adult years.

She is survived by her husband, Jimmy Sanders; her son, Gregory Sanders; her daughter, Jeanna (the late David) Murray; her brother, Allen (Ann) Sebaugh; her niece and nephew, Andrea (Dave) Bunch and Jay (Chloe) Sebaugh; her grandchildren, Caroline (Gabriel) George and Benjamin Murray; and her great-grandchildren, Clara George and Graham George.

The family extends heartfelt thanks to Mary Smith, LaVerne’s loving caregiver, and to Delta South Nursing Care.

A visitation will be held from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 31, 2026, at First Christian Church in Sikeston, followed by a service at 2:00 p.m. Interment will follow at Garden of Memories Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to First Christian Church of Sikeston or to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.nunneleefuneralchapel.com for the Sanders family.