Mary Margaret (Gall) Sanders

Mary Margaret Sanders, 80, of Pershing, Missouri, passed away Monday, January 13, 2020 at Oak Tree Villa, Jefferson City, Missouri. 

Mary was born in Rock Island, Illinois on May 25, 1939, a daughter of the late James "Jim" J. & Irene (O'Connell) Gall.

Mary grew up in Waterloo, Iowa.  She attended St. John's Catholic Grade School and St. Mary's and Our Lady of Victory High Schools.  She was a secretary at Rath Packing in Waterloo from 1957-1959.  She then attended Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa from 1959-1961 and also worked as an office clerk at Allis Chalmers in Des Moines until 1963.  She then went back to college to State College of Iowa, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in 1965.

After receiving her degree Mary moved to St. Louis County where she taught elementary grades in Ritenour District from 1965-1972.  She earned her Master Degree at Webster University in St. Louis in 1970.  She also taught Kindergarten at Jonesburg, Mo from 1972-1973 and then 5th grade at the Hermann Elementary School.  She also prepared income taxes from 1979-1997, and operated Up-To-Date Tax Service in Linn, Missouri from 1981-1990.  She then was employed by Lineberry Tax Service until 1997.

Mary was the wife of Curtis E. Sanders.  They were united in marriage on July 27, 1968.  In 1973 they moved and made their home in Pershing, where Curtis survives.

Mary is also survived by three sisters, Elizabeth Gower, of Mesa, Arizona; Nancy Knapp (Sandy), of Mesa, Arizona; Cathy Hansen (Bob Miner), of Denver, Colorado; two brothers, Greg (Margaret) Gall, of Kansas City, Missouri; and Ronald (Cindy) Gall, of Katy, Texas; by a brother-in-law, Patrick (Deb) Sanders, of Peoria, Illinois; a sister-in-law, Teresa Krohn, of Courtland, Minnesota; a brother-in-law, John Sanders, of Waseca, Minnesota, a brother-in-law, Mark Sanders, of Duluth, Minnesota, and by many beloved nieces and nephews.  She is preceded in death by her parents, and a brother James Gall.

Mary spent many years as a 4-H leader in various outdoor activities and was the co-director of Camp Hope (Summer Bible School for Morrison-Chamois Catholic churches) helping to start the puppet ministry there. She enjoyed gardening when she was younger and the beauty of the outdoors on their farm.  She liked wandering in the woods exploring the trees and wildflowers and also enjoyed bird watching, owl calling, discovering animal signs, etc.  She and her husband enjoyed traveling when they were able and had many awesome vacations together, including three wonderful summers spent in Alaska.  She also enjoyed accompanying him on his trips as an airline pilot and especially enjoyed their small excursions in their Citabria.

She wants to express her gratitude to all of the awesome friends and neighbors who made this the unique and special community they lived in for the past 45 years.

Visitation will be held Saturday, January 18th from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at Zion-St. Peter's U.C.C., Pershing, Missouri, where funeral services will follow at 11:00 a.m.  Burial will be at the church cemetery.

Memorials may be given to Parkinson's Disease Foundation or Zion-St. Peter's U.C.C. C/O Toedtmann & Grosse Funeral Home.