of Valley Springs, AR

May 6, 1926 - February 17, 2022

Verl Gordon Sanders, who loved his family and his country and flew Old Glory every single day, died Feb. 17, 2022, at the remarkable age of 95.

From the hills and hollows of the Ozark Mountains in Searcy County to wartime aboard the USS Ozark to California and then back to Arkansas, he lived a life full of wonder and adventure.
A born storyteller with a keen wit, eye for detail, and a memory envied by younger family and friends, Verl relished in sharing details from his childhood in Searcy County. He fondly recalled his parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and the extended and varied characters-many good, some bad-who populated the county during the early 20th century.
Even his birth had a beginning worthy of one of his stories. The oldest of two children, he was born at home on May 6, 1926, in Wallace Ridge, Ark., to Jim and Jessie (Horton) Sanders. However, just as he was born, the bed broke and he rolled out onto the floor. As he told it, "I landed on my head. I guess that's what's wrong with me."
Most of his childhood was spent in the pin-dot Arkansas communities of Wallace Ridge, Canaan, and Marshall. "I don't remember anyone ever going hungry or being homeless," he recalled. "We all took care of each other."
On May 3, 1944, three days before his 18th birthday, he enlisted and was sworn into the US Navy. World War II was at its peak and the boy from the Ozark Mountains saw active duty aboard, ironically, the USS Ozark. The ship was part of the invasion of the Philippines and Iwo Jima, landing three waves of troops there. It served as a hospital transport ship, carrying the wounded to Guam, then landed troops and equipment at the invasion of Okinawa.
In late August 1945, the Ozark was part of a massive transfer at sea of about 1,000 Marines and sailors from the various battleships and cruisers of the Third Fleet. Many were to be part of the initial occupation in Japan, and the Ozark was to take them there. On Aug. 30, 1945, the Ozark entered Tokyo Bay. The next day it received Allied prisoners of war, eventually carrying home more than 900 POWs, many of them survivors of the Bataan Death March. "They looked like skeletons with skin on," Verl recalled years later.
From his spot in the crow's nest as a signalman, Verl watched it all, and the young sailor kept a near-daily journal, which offers a glimpse into history. It captures the horrors of war ("At Iwo Jima. Plenty rough. Heard shells whiz by my head. Hit the beach.") and the mundane ("Had a tooth refilled.").
On Sept. 2, 1945, as the Ozark was situated near the USS Missouri, Verl's perch high above it all gave him a birds-eye view of history as Gen. Douglas MacArthur accepted the formal surrender of Japan. Another Arkansas seagoing vessel, the submarine USS Razorback, also was there.
When the war ended, like many of his generation, Verl came home, went to work, and rarely, if ever, spoke of his wartime service.
His post-war employment included driving a cab, picking fruit, and doing just about anything he could to earn a living. In his spare time, he and a buddy became groupies, following Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys up and down California and halfway across the country until they woke up one morning and realized they needed to go home. "We'd run out of money," he remembered, laughing.
During a trip to Marshall in 1952, Verl-sporting a head of wavy black hair and an easy smile-met lovely, green-eyed Snowball native Quindora Phillips on the courthouse square. The two were married Dec. 4, 1953, in Jackson, Miss., and settled in California, remaining there for the next 34 years. They built a successful business, Verl G. Sanders Trucking, and became parents to two daughters, Susan Kim and Carla Donn. Each summer, the family left its desert home in Indio, Calif., and returned to Searcy County on vacation, where Verl swapped stories with the old-timers who gathered on the Marshall square.
He never lost his spirit of adventure, and in California Verl earned his pilot's license and bought a plane, which was followed by several touring motorcycles. In the summer of 1969, wanting to see more of the country that he'd defended a quarter century earlier, he and his family loaded into a big yellow Cadillac and spent a month on a road trip around the United States. Highlights included the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, the coast of Maine, the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty in New York, and the White House in Washington, D.C.
By 1987, the Ozarks were calling, and Verl and Quindora returned permanently to Arkansas, settling in Valley Springs. Then he found a new profession, running cattle, which led to a term as president of the Boone County Cattlemen's Association and serving on the board of the Boone County Farm Bureau.
Despite his successes through the years, Verl would occasionally mention that he never graduated from high school, having dropped out to join the war effort. So, 57 years after what would have been his commencement, that was remedied. Through the nationwide Operation Recognition, and in conjunction with counties and local school districts, veterans of not only World War II but Korea and Vietnam who left school to serve their country are awarded full high school diplomas.
Verl was the first Searcy County veteran to be so honored. He received his diploma as part of the Marshall High School Class of 2002 graduation ceremony. As he walked from the middle of the gym to the front, the entire senior class stood in ovation, followed similarly by the packed gymnasium. The applause was thunderous and continued for several minutes. Tissues were pulled out and eyes were dabbed all over the building. The graduation year on his diploma reads: 1945/2002. Ever the jokester, a beaming Verl, then 76, told well-wishers, "I'm sure glad I got this. It might help in my career."
Verl slowed physically in later years, but not mentally. He continued to write the occasional letter to the editor of the state newspaper, and he frequently directed others to a column or story he'd read (on an electronic tablet) that they might enjoy, too. He loved animals and children, and remained fiercely patriotic, proudly flying the stars and stripes, and always, always standing for the flag. He often pondered the future of the country he fought for so long ago.
Most of his contemporaries passed on before him, including Quindora, his beloved wife of 60 years who died in 2014 after a long battle with Alzheimer's, and his younger sister, Audrey Nell Ruiz. Still, he found joy in the everyday-a funny quote, a sweet picture of a dog or cat, the laughter of a young child.
And to the end, he still had stories to tell, stories recalled from 40, 60, even 85 years ago. Stories of a life well-lived and a man well-loved.

Verl is survived by daughters Kim Sanders of Valley Springs and Carla Sanders (and husband Rick Harrison) of Stevensville, MT; granddaughters Cali Harrison of Charlotte, NC, and Lindsey Harrison of Carson City, NV; great-grandson Asher (Lil Red); his sweet and loyal feline companion, Libi, and many other family members and friends, all of whom will miss him dearly.

Memorial donations may be made in his name to the Searcy County Veterans Memorial Association, 108 Noah Horton Drive, Marshall, AR 72650, or the Canaan Cemetery Fund, PO Box 237, Marshall, AR 72650.
Graveside services are 1:00 PM Monday, February 28th, 2022 at Canaan Cemetery where Verl will be laid to rest with military honors. Honorary bearers will be Steve Horton, Wendell Cassell, William George, Mike Pack, Charles Passmore, Chuck Sutherland and Rick Harrison. A Sharing of Memoires will be held at 2:00 PM following the burial at Searcy County Veterans Memorial Hall.

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