It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Robert Wayne Sanders, who left us on May 23, 2025 at the age of 93.  

Born in 1932 in Wayne City, Illinois to Archie Sanders and Goldie Sanders (Wood), Robert spent his early years in that small town as the 3rd oldest of 5 siblings.  Before he graduated from Wayne City High School, Robert took on local jobs such as working at a chicken farm and measuring water levels at the local river.

Robert was accepted to study Mathematics at Vanderbilt University, where his tuition was paid by the Navy ROTC.  During the summers, he earned extra money at a cannery. After graduating magna cum laude in 1953, he duly served in the U.S. Navy on shipboard duty aboard the USS Leyte (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki…) from 1953-1956.

After completing his duty with the Navy, Robert secured his first career employment with Lockheed Missile Systems in Palo Alto as a staff scientist, while also pursuing a postgraduate degree at nearby Stanford University.  He earned a Master of Science in Mathematics in 1959 from that institution.

Robert met his future wife Joan when she was working as a librarian at Lockheed. They were married in 1958 in Los Angeles near her family, and returned afterwards to Mountain View, CA.  Their first child, Kevin, was born in Palo Alto in 1959, and they remained in Mountain View until 1960.  At this point Robert decided to transition into teaching and accepted an assistant professorship at Arizona State University, and they moved to Tempe, Arizona.

He continued his postgraduate work in ASU's PhD program in Mathematics while also teaching, and Robert and Joan's second child, Derek, was born in Tempe in 1963.  Despite Robert's responsibilities, he still found time to participate in a local softball league where he played third base.  He also supported his two sons in their activities including the Boy Scouts and Little League.

Due to ASU's policy that recipients of a PhD from their school were not eligible to teach at the school, he accepted a new teaching position at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley in 1968.  After a couple of years he realized he could not complete his PhD thesis while being so distant from his ASU faculty advisor (no zoom calls back then), so he and the family moved back to Tempe for two more years to finish his degree.  He went on to receive his PhD in Mathematics from ASU in 1972.

Robert found a new teaching position at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so the family pulled up stakes again for the midwest in 1973.  ORU is a small school, so in addition to teaching lower and upper division math classes he also began teaching some of the computer science classes.  Always desiring to remain healthy, Robert enjoyed the requisite physical activity schedule at the university and became an avid runner.  For many years he would compete in 5K and 10K races, run marathons, and participate in basketball pickup games.

He remained in Tulsa until 1989, after both his sons had graduated from ORU, and then moved with Joan to Moraga, CA.  Although he was officially retired from teaching, he kept busy tutoring students in math and computer science at St. Mary's College in Moraga for several years, as well as tutoring older adults in computer usage through SeniorNet.  During his and Joan's time in Moraga, both of his sons' families were blessed with their own children.  Robert loved to engage with his six grandchildren by playing games, reading with them, and working on puzzles.  He even designed craft projects for them to do on family visits, one of which was a small model of the Golden Gate Bridge made of string and cardboard.  Joan passed away in 2001, and Robert remained in their home in Moraga until his health problems precluded living on his own in 2024.  He remained active and involved in his sons' family activities and the lives of his grandchildren.  He loved creating homemade birthday cards for the family using his computer and his personal touch.

Robert was predeceased by his parents Archie Sanders and Goldie Sanders (Wood), by his wife Joan Sanders (Linden), by his brother Richard Sanders, and by his sister Annabelle Webb (Sanders).  He is survived by his brother Kent Sanders, by his sister Sandra Wilson (Sanders), by his son Kevin Sanders, and by his son Derek Sanders.

A memorial service is planned for June 14, 2025, at Willow Spring Church in Moraga, CA at 2:00 PM.  In lieu of flowers, please send any donations to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano (https://www.foodbankccs.org)

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