Minerva (Stafford) Sanderson

Funeral Services for Minerva (Stafford) Sanderson will be held on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Oxford, Nebraska, with Reverend Eldon E. Fablinger and Pastor Kirk Einspahr officiating. Burial will follow at the Oxford Cemetery.

Minerva (Stafford) Sanderson, 97 years of age, passed away Sunday, May 15, 2016 at the Westview Health Care Center in Sheridan, Wyoming.  She was born on July 10, 1918, in San Antonio, Texas, to Manuel G. and Angela (Cisneros) Silvee. She grew up in Galveston, Texas and was baptized at the Central Christian Church at the age of 12 years. She graduated from Ball High School and then pursued higher education at Droughn Business College, where she took secretarial and accounting courses.

Minerva worked as her church secretary until she married John Albert Stafford on August 11, 1939. Together, they had four children: Elsie, Marvin, and twins:  Michael and John. In 1949, the family made their home in Tucson, Arizona, where Minerva later attended the University of Arizona in the early 1960s and 1970s.  John preceded her in death on December 7, 1970.  Minerva worked for several businesses in the Tucson area and retiring from Sears, after working there 10 years.

She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and served as the Worthy Matron of her Chapter in Tucson in 1980.

On November 23, 1981, Minerva married Wilmur V. Sanderson and went to live with him, on his farm near Oxford. They attended the United Methodist Church and enjoyed traveling together.  Wilmur preceded her in death on September 25, 1994. Minerva then joined the nearby Christian Church in Edison, Nebraska. She continued to make her home on the farm until July, 2010, when she moved to Sheridan, to be near her daughter, Elsie, and husband, Terry.

Minerva became a member of the First Christian Church in Sheridan. Church had always been a very important part of her life and she enjoyed many religious retreats throughout the years. She enjoyed oil painting, knitting and sewing when she was younger and also enjoyed traveling, reading, and attending and hosting many reunions for the Sanderson and Stafford families.

Besides her parents and both husbands; she was preceded in death by; three brothers; son-in-law, Phil Houser; grandson, James Peters; two great-grandsons: Thomas Peters and Anthony Peters; a great-great-granddaughter, Genevieve Peters; three brothers-in-law: Ray Ryland, John Anderson and Raymond Watson; and nephew, William Silvee, killed in Vietnam.

She leaves to celebrate her life; her children: Elsie Peters and her husband, Terry of Sheridan, Marvin Stafford and his wife, Mary of Tucson, Arizona, Michael Stafford and his wife, Ruth of Days Creek, Oregon, John Stafford and his wife, Judy of North Creek, New York, Rita Houser of Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Rogene Long and her husband, Jim of Newcastle, Wyoming; 13 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; her sisters: Ruth Ryland of Steubenville, Ohio, Doris Watson of Dickenson, Texas and Lita Jean Anderson of Riverside, Connecticut; and a host of many nieces and nephews, other relatives and friends.

Visitation will be held on Monday, May 23, 2016, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with a family greeting from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Mitchell-Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Oxford.

A memorial has been established in Minerva's honor and is kindly suggest to the Donor's choice.

Expressions of caring and kindness can be sent to the family at www.nelsonbauerfh.com

The Mitchell-Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Oxford is in charge of the arrangements.