Pat Sanders

June 17, 1929 - May 6, 2020

90 years old 1929 - 2020 Pat Sanders was born in Tulia TX to Baker Olaf and Cora Berry Sanders. He was number 8 out of 10 kids, the only one born in a hospital and the only one with no middle name. His parents were from Alabama and the family opinion was his father had married up. They settled in Texas and enjoyed success with farming and a general store in town. Then the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression hit and they lost everything. Pat said his father never really recovered. One older son told the folks to follow him to Kennewick where the farming was good along the Columbia River where Columbia Park now is. Pat said in 1937, when they pulled into Wallula Junction and fueled up, his father showed him he had only a nickel left in his pocket. They camped out in front of the packing sheds downtown by the railroad tracks and went to work until they could afford to rent a little 2-bedroom house off 2nd Ave behind Basin Dept store. After saving some more, they purchased a little 2-bedroom home with 20 Acres on Gum St down the road from the Lampson place. His sisters always got the 2nd bedroom and the boys slept on the porch in an old bed. It was Pat's job to start the fire and fetch the well water, as well as take care of the farm and the critters. They had no electricity or running water and plowed with horses. His parents were strict and he said he was often paddled "I stayed in trouble" he said. Pat's mother was special to him. She always had a pot of beans on the stove and some "lambs' quarters" boiled. That was grass weeds the animals couldn't reach through the fence. He said the Depression hobos marked their property because she always was willing to share with anyone in need. She started 2 churches in their living room. He had to go through the church meeting if he came home late from Saturday night carousing. He talked about walking around town looking for food with a salt shaker in his pocket and looking for work. He loved cars, was good at cards and learned to smoke. Pat was dyslexic and school was a struggle, so he quit to avoid another paddling. He wound up out at the bunkhouse on the old Miller farm, Glen Miller and Glen Clark were his buddies. He talked his mother into letting him join the Marines in WWII at age 17. Pat spent a year at Camp Pendleton in California, usually in the brig. When guys were discharged early at the end of WWII, Pat was sent home. It was a bit of a rush as they had to let him out of the brig, and he didn't read the paperwork and wound up signing up for the reserves. So he got called back for Korea. By that time, Pat had met Joanne Darlyne Kennedy at the old Pollyanna Café on Washington and Kennewick Ave. He had a great story about how he swept her into an old car and they went cruising downtown, "dragging the gut." Her parents did not approve and sent her off to live with her grandfather. But as soon as Darlyne could finish high school, they were married in 1951. Pat had discovered he could do a lot better joining the Ironworkers Union than farming. So he went for the interview and test. He didn't know what he was doing, but they liked his attitude and his effort and so he was in. Pat traveled the United States building bridges and dams and highways during the country's post war infra structure building period. Pat and Darlyne loved kids, and after 10 years they decided it was time to start a family. Within about 7 years they had 6 kids. They decided it was time to come home and let Cora Berry do a little grandmothering out at the farm. She loved that as much as Darlyne later enjoyed looking after all her grandchildren. In 1968 Pat was thrilled to purchase the old Gravenslund home that had been built in the Garden Tract neighborhood in what is now Columbia Park. He had visited the home as a kid before it was moved to its current location. At first, he kept horses at home and then tried a truck garden. Then came the fruit trees, over 300 peach and nectarine trees and 60 cherry trees. Ironwork was tough on the body and Pat went on to superintendent jobs, but noticed younger guys with more education were passing him by. So, he moved into the Local 14 Ironworkers office, first as a business agent and then as the business manager. He said he was used to being caught in the middle coming from a large family. He stood between employers and a union membership ratification vote on contracts, handling grievances, and fighting to keep the work for his members and not some other union. He became a real politician! He had to deal with the Hanford Labor Council and the union legal system, the National Labor Relations Board. He traveled to conferences to fight for benefits for members who traveled the country for the heavy work that paid benefits in one local while retiring in another local at home. He served on the NW Union Benefit Trust Fund advisory committee and figured out how to add benefits for his members, including an opportunity to have an IRA as well as a pension. He put his wife Darlyne to work in his Pasco office part time. Together they tried to help folks meet their hours worked requirements to qualify for insurance and retirement. He aspired to go all the way to the national Ironworkers office in Washington DC and laughed it was a good thing he didn't make it. He wound up his career as collection coordinator for the NW Union Benefit Trust Fund, retiring at age 70. He had worked 2 jobs, ironworking and farming, all his career, as well as caring for his parents while they were alive, caring for their farm; and then going home to care for 3.76 acres with 6 full time kids and a wife working in his office! Whew! He loved retirement and the secure paycheck! His wife's passing in 2004 was a surprise. He said "I never thought I would go around again and get a do over." In 2006 he married Anne Doyle, a local Realtor. He continued to farm and enjoyed being the peach man, sitting in the garage talking to his customers. He had fun at lunch with his Kennewick High classmates. He loved his family unconditionally. Pat's word was his bond and he was a "cards on the table" kind of guy. He said he got in a lot of trouble over the years for opening his mouth, so he was going to try and be quiet in his later years. Pat was intelligent and perceptive, witty and charming, with a soft kind heart and an incredible work ethic. He would start early and stay late, doing something over and over until he got it right and got it done. The catch was that little insecure streak that caused him to chatter excuses when things didn't go well, and pretty soon it was all your fault for just standing there! But all you had to do was assure him he could do it right and he would calm down. Pat liked to people watch and with his observations could come up with some great stories watching folks in a restaurant or a train terminal! He would look at the big picture, walk a mile in your shoes, scope out all the options, consult paid professional experts, read all the material, and then map out a plan. And then make a backup plan. He taught himself to read as a young man while on the road with Zane Grey novels that reminded him of his family in Texas, and he taught himself to read structural engineered plans. He could add up all the money in a shopping cart before he hit the cashier stand. This was truly an amazing guy, larger than life! His presence could fill a room. Pat lived to be 90 because he took care of himself. It was referred to as the second wife syndrome. After, why remarry a younger gal unless you plan to stick around. He had quit smoking and drinking, he built a local medical support team, and he followed their directions. Thank yous to the doctors: Smith, AlSamara, Matharu, Chua, Berger, Woodruff, Badorek. And special thanks to Lourdes Hospital, especially the observation department. Pat is survived by his wife Anne; his brother Tom Sr; his children Mark, Kelly, Brett, Tim, Mat, Paul; as well as 17 plus grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. Mueller's has arranged for a private service and burial at Riverview Heights Cemetery.