Rusty Sanders of Kingfisher, a longtime local funeral service owner and operator and active community volunteer, died Friday, Oct. 29, at age 82.

Sanders was born and raised in Marland and joined the U.S. Navy in 1956 after graduating high school, serving as an aviation structural mechanic on the USS Kearsarge, with the rank of AMH 2nd Class Petty Officer.

After his discharge in December 1959, Sanders first attended Northern Oklahoma Junior College with plans to become a high school basketball coach, but then switched focus after spending a summer working at Sevier’s Funeral Home in Chickasha.

He earned a degree in mortuary science from Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service in Dallas and then returned to Chickasha to work for Sevier’s for six years.

While in Chickasha, Sanders met Frances Mills and the couple was married on Sept. 14, 1963.

The Sanderses moved to Kingfisher in 1967, where he went to work for Langley Funeral Home, which became Hackney Funeral Home in 1972.

The couple purchased the business in 1978, renaming it Sanders Funeral Service, which they operated for more than 40 years and where Sanders continued to work.

Two years ago, Sanders was selected from more than 1,100 funeral directors in the state for the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association Stewardship Award, presented for compassionate funeral care and community service.

Sanders and his wife were active members of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church and supporters of the parish school. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and served on the parish and school boards, as well as serving as a eucharistic minister for many years.

He served 19 years as the school’s volunteer boys’ basketball coach and the Sanders family also sponsored an annual award for the school’s top eighth grade graduate for a number of years.

Sanders also was an active community volunteer, coaching Little League baseball for a number of years and serving as a member of the Keith Lowry-Henry Ellison American Legion Post No. 5 and the Kingfisher Elks Lodge.

Working with former Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce manager Anita Long and many other local volunteers, Sanders helped establish Kingfisher In Lights in 1996, the Christmas lights display at Kingfisher Park which was a precursor to the current Kingfisher Winter Nights, and served as president of the KIL board for many years.

Sanders is survived by his five children, daughters Lori Jech of Wichita Falls, Texas, and Nichole Cope-land and husband Steven of Mustang, and sons Chad Sanders and wife Shelley and Mike Sanders and wife Nellie, all of Kingfisher, and Chris Sanders of Tulsa; 14 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life was scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, at Kingfisher Lifeway Church and a Mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Kingfisher, with burial following at Kingfisher Cemetery.

A complete obituary appears elsewhere in this edition.