Frank Gene Sanders

Frank was born in 1929 during a blizzard, in a small farmhouse outside Idahome, Idaho. Frank was the sixth of nine children. He learned to always make the most of life, especially considering how little life in the Great Depression (and in such a big family) gave him.

Frank loved being a missionary for his church. As a teen, he and his mother preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to people in San Gabriel, California. It prepared him to preach full-time as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was called to the Western States Mission, and taught families in towns like Fruita, Colorado.

When Frank concluded his missionary service, he traded his suit for a military uniform. The U.S. Army drafted him into the Korean conflict.

It was while attending church in Yucaipa during 1953, that he first met his bride-to-be Lorette Leicht. The two courted and were married in the St. George Temple the next spring. To support his new family, Frank worked as a carpenter, building countless houses across southern California. His hard work kept a meal on the table and a roof over the heads of the seven children he and Lorette raised together. Today, they share 20 treasured grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.

Frank returned to full-time missionary service upon retirement. He and his sweetheart were called to serve in Ghana, Africa in 1997. They fell deeply in love with the Ghanaian people, and Frank would spend the rest of his life telling stories about the people they taught. He and Lorette were called on a second mission, this time to Liberia. But when trouble stirred up in that country, they were reassigned back to Ghana and to the people they loved there.

The last two decades of his life, Frank and his wife devoted their time to serving as volunteer ordinance workers at the Los Angeles Temple, and later, Redlands Temple.

Frank is preceded in death by his parents, Lee W. (1897-1989) and Zetta F. Sanders (1899-1975), as well as all of his siblings, including: Elizabeth F.(1919-2009), Lee M. (1920-2005), James M. (1922-1922), Joseph L. (1923-2005), Merl M. (1926-2005), Julian M. (1931-2011), Reuben A. (1933-2015), and Val A. Sanders (1935-1970).

He is survived by his loving wife of 69 years, Lorette Leicht Sanders, and his seven children: David, Laurel (Chambers), Hiram, Donna (Hall), Mary (Gunyan), Carol (Pixton), Linda (Rodriguez).

Frank was a valiant father. He was a good, devoted husband. And he was deeply committed to his faith, his church, and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

A service honoring Frank’s life will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse at 12776 6th St, Yucaipa, California on January 8 at 10:00. He will then be laid to rest at Riverside National Cemetery, in a small ceremony surrounded by his family and very close friends.