Francisco Javier Sanders, 51, passed away peacefully on November 29, 2025, after a long battle with a very rare condition. Up until the end, Francisco maintained his kindness, grace, compassion, appreciation of beauty, love of family and friends, and expressed gratitude for life, full of wonderful and varied experiences.

He spent his early years in Tacna, Arizona, raised by his mother Dunia, and father Francisco Barraza. He was the third of seven children, including Laura, Lucy, Carlos, Dunia, Jose and Maria. Sadly, his mother, father, and sister Maria preceded him in passing.

During his childhood, he was especially close to his grandmother, Magdalena Porchas, and often remembered her, his mother and aunts making tamales for Christmas. He also spent much of his time playing sports or engaging in student activities as a popular and beloved member of their small town.

After high school, Francisco spent a year abroad as an exchange student near Melbourne, Australia. He absolutely adored his time there, often reminiscing about the numerous friends he made … friends would become like family over the course of his life. He also loved living near a big city, often taking the train into town. He continued to play tennis and be involved in as many activities as he could. He even developed his own Australian accent that he would slip into when the opportunity arose.

Francisco subsequently attended the University of Arizona, in Tucson, where he met his eventual spouse, Craig Sanders. The two were 21 years old when they met and fell in love. They would go on to marry and were together for over 30 years.

The two moved to San Diego in 1998, so that Craig could attend law school. Francisco began working in telecommunications as a network engineer. He worked at various companies including Cox Communications, FloTV, Qualcomm and Verizon. He was bright and sociable and excelled at his work.

Francisco also developed a rich circle of friends. If not playing bingo, he could often be found either on a tennis or volleyball court. He was overjoyed to return to Australia in 2002 to compete in the Gay Games.

Unfortunately, the specter of illness always haunted him. Francisco had been a Type 1 diabetic since he was 21 years old. In 2011, he was diagnosed with renal failure and began dialysis shortly thereafter. It took a drastic toll on his body, causing debilitating migraine headaches, substantial weight loss, orthostatic blood pressure, amputations and infections.

In 2016, he was blessed to receive a kidney transplant from his best friend, Will Davis. Over the years, however, he developed other conditions such as gastroparesis which resulted in hundreds of nights in the hospital.

Despite these lows, he always remained resilient and vowed to make the most he could out of life. Craig and Francisco traveled as much as possible. Over the last few years, they made a return trip to Australia, took a vacation to Hawaii to visit family, traveled with friends to Yosemite, and of course, made multiple trips to Puerto Vallarta.

Francisco was also passionate about sports, and he loved the University of Arizona. Whether it was attending a marquee basketball game, having a football watch party, or logging in to watch a women’s soccer match streaming at 5 a.m., he was there.

He also loved his puppies. He mourned the loss of his wonderful dog Kip, who passed away in 2020 after almost 17 years together. His fur babies, Jackson and Indy, were the joys of his life that he would speak about endlessly.

He also enjoyed movies and television – often watching classic 80’s movies, science fiction or reality TV. He loved the snarky quips of classic episodes of Roseanne, the shade thrown by the Real Housewives and he knew almost every line of Friends.

Most importantly, Francisco was a true friend to many people over the years. He was in the delivery room when one of his best friends gave birth. He went on marches to support their causes, helped them dress for drag shows, spoke with them when they were down, celebrated when they were happy and simply listened when they needed to speak. There were very few people in his life that he did not make a positive impact on.

Yet despite his giving nature to others, Francisco was also very private about himself. He spent the last six months of his life in either skilled nursing or the hospital with a very rare condition that caused an incredible amount of pain and suffering. In spite of this, he did not want others to remember him as someone who suffered, but as someone who thrived.

Francisco lived a life full of wonder, joy, pain, sadness, triumph, loss, laughter and love. It was not a gentle life, but it was a life well lived. And when he passed away, it was on his terms, peacefully and holding the hand of the love of his life.

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