Roy J. Sanders

Roy James Sanders, 82, of Ottawa, died Sunday, June 18, 2006, at home.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Gladfelter Funeral Home with the Rev. Dr. John Peterson of the First Baptist Church officiating. Burial will be in Oakwood Memorial Park with full military honors. Visitation will be form 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Mr. Sanders was born December 14, 1923, in Clinton, Ill., to Warren and Gladys (Bates) Sanders. He married Nola Jean Maltas on June 3, 1946, in Streator. She died June 7, 2006. He was a U. S. Army veteran of World War II serving in the European Theater at Normandy and Ardennez. His battles and campaigns included the Battle of the Bulge and D-Day. He retired from Libbey-Owens-Ford after over 40 years of employment. After retirement, he worked for Handy Foods for ten years. He was active with the Ottawa Recreation Department for many years serving as referee, umpire and scorekeeper. In honor of Mr. Sanders, "The Roy Sanders Softball Field" in the Lincoln Douglas Park was named after him.

He was a member of the First Baptist Church.

He is survived by a daughter, Gladys (Chuck) Clairmont of Ottawa; two sons, Ronald (Yang) of Brandon, Fla.; Ralph (Lori) of Ottawa; thirteen grandchildren; sixteen great grandchildren; and a brother, Raymond (Thais) of Washington, Ill.

He was preceded in death by a infant daughter, Sandra; and a brother, Robert.

Pallbearers will be Scott Sanders, Brian Larson, Larry Maltas, Jeff Beldon, Jason Clairmont and Shawn Mikolaitis. Honorary pallbearers will be Dr Terry Love, Dan Araujo, Larry Bruck and Scott Pronger.

Memorials may be directed to the family.