Jay D. Sanders, Sr.

Jay D. Sanders, Sr., age 76, of Ottawa, passed away Sunday, September 29, 2019 at Morris Hospital.

Visitation will be from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Thursday, October 3rd at Gladfelter-Roetker Funeral Home.  Graveside services with military honors will be 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery at Elwood, Illinois.  Honorary pallbearers will be Trevor and Lucas Bertolotti, Allyson Hunt, Emily Haarman and Felecity Couch.

Jay was born July 7, 1943 at Joliet, Illinois, a son of Wiley and Evelyn (Funk) Sanders.  He married Judy Huss July 17, 1999 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Surviving are his wife, Judy; his children, Jay Sanders, Jr. of Somonauk, Rita (Matthew) Kennedy of Plainfield and Evelyn Bertolotti of Steger; step-children, Christy (Jim) Couch of Ottawa, Luke (Dawn) Woodin of Norway and Eric (Shayla) Woodin of Ottawa.  He also leaves grandchildren, Trevor, Lucas, Emily, Whitney, Alex, Felecity, Allyson, Marli, Landon, Reice, Aaron and Archer; Great-grandsons, Eli, James and Emmett; and two sisters, Joan Koenig of Wisconsin and Paula (Henry) Ales of Minooka.

Jay served in the U.S. Navy.  He worked as an electrician at Caterpillar and later owned and operated J and J Electric in Ottawa.  Jay was a member of the Ottawa VFW Post.  In earlier years, he enjoyed fishing.  The time he valued most was that spent with his family.

Due to allergy concerns, the family requests no flowers, however, green plants are welcome, or donations to St. Jude’s Childrens Research Hospital, Wounded Warriors or the American Diabetes Association would be appreciated.