Fred Sanders, 95
Fred Sanders, 95, a Tucson, Ariz., resident, died Nov. 17, 2011, at Healthcenter Northwest in Kalispell.
He was born June 22, 1916, in Albany, N.Y., to Abigail and Fred Sanders. He graduated in 1934 from Mont Pleasant High School in Schenectady, N.Y.
After graduation, he started a machinist apprenticeship with GE, which continued for four years, moving into tool making halfway through. He was in one of the first apprenticeships started up again after the Depression. Twenty were selected to go on to college, and he received his bachelor's degree in 1942 after four years at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y.
In 1942, Fred taught a training program at Pratt for a military ASTP/Army specialist training program. With the war starting, he sent his students off, and his job came to a halt.
He then went on to work on the Manhattan Project in New Jersey in an experimental lab developing and refining uranium to use in the bomb. After a year it closed and moved south. He chose not to move with it; Western Electric became his new employer and he worked there until the war was over in 1945.
On Jan. 30, 1943, he married Louise Walizer. They resided in Brooklyn, and in 1945 he went back to Pratt and taught mechanical engineering for a couple of years.
In 1947, he moved his family to Binghamton, N.Y., where he became head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Broome Technical Community College. He made a career change in 1962 and moved to Seattle, to become a 28-year employee of Boeing Company as a manufacturing research engineer. Over his career with Boeing he worked on the 727, 737, 747 and 767.
Upon retirement, he spent more time working in the machine shop he had started up back in 1964. It was a small prototype and tooling shop.
Over his lifetime he pursued many other interests. He received his pilot's license while he was in college. Sailing was a pastime he enjoyed while living in the Northwest.
After the death of his wife, Louise, in 1976, he married Gene Cooper on July 16, 1977. They eventually left the Northwest area and resided in the retirement community of Saddlebrook in the Tucson area. There he spent more than 18 years as a member of the Silversmith Club and adorned many with some of his exceptional jewelry pieces. He also spent several years as a guide at the nearby Biosphere in the Tucson area.
Fred was a very pleasant person to be around, always patient, never complaining, always up for a challenge, more interested in you and your life.
He is survived by his spouse, Gene Sanders, of Tucson; daughter, Susan Herron, and husband, Dallas, of Kalispell; grandson, Chris Herron, of Spokane; granddaughter, Julie Gendler, and husband, Andrew, of Boise, Idaho; and six great-grandchildren.
The family will gather for memorial services at 3 p.m. Dec. 26 at the C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell.
Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for Fred's family. You are invited to go to www.jgfuneralhome.com to view Fred's guest book, offer condolences and share memories.