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Robert Sanders

Apr 9, 2022

Aug. 4, 1949-March 30, 2022

Robert James “Bob”

Sanders was born August

4, 1949, in Fort Ord Cali-

fornia to James Forrest

Sanders and Lillian

Louise (Demuth) Sanders.

He died March 30, 2022,

in West Fargo North

Dakota.

For the first 7 years of

his life Bob moved fre-

quently due to his father’s

Army assignments and

deployments. In 1956 the

family settled in Tacoma

Washington with his fa-

thers’ final Army assign-

ment at Fort Lewis. Bob

went to school in the

Clover Park district and

ultimately graduated from

Clover Park High School

in 1967. During his senior

year Bob joined the U. S.

Naval Reserve, so im-

mediately upon gradua-

tion he went to boot camp

in San Diego California.

Bob went on active duty

in the U. S. Navy in Janu-

ary 1968, serving first on

the USS Marshall DD-676,

the reserve training ship

home ported in Tacoma

Washington, then, after

his promotion to Radio-

man 3rd Class he was

transferred to the USS

Cochrane DDG-21 home

ported in Pearl Harbor

Hawaii for its 1969 West-

pac cruise to Viet Nam

and surrounding areas.

After returning from the

Navy, Bob went to work

for the State of Washing-

ton in Olympia, first as a

teletype operator for the

Department of Motor

Vehicles, then as a Com-

munications Officer for

the Washington State Pa-

trol. After 11 years as a

WSP Comm Officer Bob

transferred to the position

of Data Communication

Technician and finally

System Administrator for

the Washington State Pa-

trol. Bob retired from the

state Patrol in June 1998.

With 2 failed marriages

in his past, Bob met his

soulmate in 1986. He and

Kathy E. Tuff Paulson

were together for 34 years

before finally tying the

knot in August 2020.

They moved to West Far-

go ND that same month.

Bob enjoyed woodwork-

ing in his basement shop

in Olympia, working with

computers during the

DOS and early Windows

days, and, later in life,

genealogy where he found

many cousins and ances-

tors he had not previously

known. Bob was a Life

Member of the VFW, West

Fargo Post 7564.

Bob is survived by his

wife Kathy and stepchil-

dren Nikki Footh (Paul) of

Grays River Washington

and Ryan Nielsen (Tara)

of Fort Bragg NC and

grandchildren Haley and

Hannah Footh and Skylar

and Autumn Nielsen. He

is also survived by a sis-

ter, Shari Blackett (Don)

of Washougal, WA. He is

predeceased by his

parents.

Cremation has occurred

and Bob will be buried at

the North Dakota

Veteran’s Cemetery near

Mandan ND this spring.

West Funeral Home &

Life Tribute Center

westfuneralhome.com