MARGARET McFARLAND SANDERS

Feb. 9, 1913 - July 16, 2009

Margaret M. Sanders, 96, died peacefully in her home in Green Valley on July 16, 2009. She was born in Clifton, Ariz., the same year Arizona became a state. Her Arizona heritage was an important and defining thread in the fabric of her life.

After graduating from high school in El Paso, Texas, Margaret moved to Silver City, N.M., where she worked as court reporter for the circuit judge. It was a rewarding and challenging experience traveling the southern circuit of New Mexico. During one of the trips to Lordsburg, N.M., she met her husband, who was practicing law in New Mexico. She married E. Forrest Sanders in 1939.

Seven years and three children later, the family moved to Las Cruces, N.M. For the nearly 30 years she lived in Las Cruces she was active in many civic and cultural organizations. Though not a gourmet cook, Margaret loved dinner parties and socializing with friends and neighbors. She also was a Girl Scout and Brownie leader and a tireless chauffeur for her three children. Wanting her children to have all kinds of opportunities, she even taught them to water-ski pulling them tied to the back of her car through the irrigation canals along the Rio Grande River.

After the death of her husband in 1976, Margaret, then 63 and always an avid reader and intellectually curious, enrolled at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. She majored in Latin America studies and studied in Madrid and Barcelona where she lived for five years after graduating. She took wonderful trips to Egypt and Morocco with her daughter Ann. Her passion for Spanish and Mexican culture and language was shared with others through her memories and stories and in her collection of books, photos, pictures and music.

She had an adventurous spirit and a thirst for knowledge. After returning from Spain, she moved to Boston, teaching both Spanish and English as a Second Language, studying at Boston University and served as a docent for Boston by Foot, leading groups through the winding and charming streets of Boston’s neighborhoods, pointing out the history and architecture. She also introduced her grandson Miles to Boston, spending days riding trolley cars together and had the joy of attending his wedding last year in Maine on her last trip to New England. Unquestionably, one of the things she loved most about Boston was the Boston Red Sox. She was one of their biggest fans. She and her daughter went to many games at Fenway Park and when she wasn’t at the park, she was watching on TV. When the Red Sox finally won the World Series in 2004, there was no one happier than Margaret.

Margaret’s other passion was horse racing. While living in Las Cruces, the family spent the summers in Ruidoso, N.M., famous for quarter horse racing. Margaret’s seat was right above the finish line where she would study the history and lineage of the horses with the same fervor she exhibited with other aspects of her education. As reserved and understated as Margaret could be at times, when it came to rooting her horse home, she showed unbridled enthusiasm. Later in her life, after she had moved to Green Valley, when asked by her children what she wanted to do for her birthday, she would always say, “Let’s go to the races!”

Margaret returned to Arizona 25 years ago, settling in Green Valley to spend the last years of her life in the part of the United States she loved the most. While living in Green Valley, she continued to teach Spanish. As she did everywhere she lived, she made and kept many good friends and was active in her church. She was a proud member of the Green Valley Arizona branch of the American Association of University Women. She enjoyed exploring southern Arizona and spending time with her son Charles and his wife Bev, who visited frequently from Phoenix and looked forward to visits from her daughters Ann and Nell, who lived on the east coast. For several years she hosted her whole family at ranches in Southern Arizona. She also traveled many times to Mexico with Ann, once following Padre Kino’s trail through the Mexican state of Sonora.

In 1998, Margaret moved to La Posada in Green Valley where she lived until she died. She volunteered at La Via Memory Care and at the Library, taught Spanish to other residents, continued to play bridge, continued to play Scrabble in both English and Spanish, and was a founding member of the Book Club. One of her favorite places on the La Posada campus was the gazebo. Many of her walks around campus would begin and end at the gazebo. She loved sitting there, reading or visiting with friends. She would talk about how peaceful it was, how she loved the smell of the desert after a rain, the beauty of the mountains and how lucky she was to live where she did. All her friends and family admired and loved Margaret for her courage in how she lived her life and how she saw herself in the world. It is a quality she passed on to her children.

Margaret is survived by her three children: Ann Sanders and her partner Deborah Heller; Nell Wing and her husband David Wing; Charles Sanders and wife Beverly Janowitz-Price. She is also survived by her grandchildren Teri Osburn, Miles Wing and his wife Kate; her great-grandson Dresden Osburn; her nephew Steven O’Donnell; and step-grandchildren Joshua and his wife Phoenix, Sarah, David and Eric.

Funeral services will be Wednesday, July 22, at St. Francis-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church in Green Valley, at 10 a.m. A celebration of her life will also be held Thursday, July 23, at La Joya Assisted Living at La Posada, at 10 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent in Margaret’s memory to Valor Hospice Foundation, 1131 South La Canada, Green Valley, AZ 85614.