Commander Wilton Turner Sanders, Jr. USN (Ret.) passed away peacefully Friday, January 8, 2021 at his home in Black Hawk, Mississippi.  He was 98. Services celebrating Commander Sanders' life will be held on August 21 ^st at 11:00 at the Black Hawk United Methodist Church.

Commander Sanders was born on December 21, 1922 to Wilton Turner Sanders Sr. and Annie Laurie Duke Sanders in North Carrollton, Mississippi. He graduated at the top of his class at J. Z. George High School in Carrollton. With an innate desire to fly at an early age, he honed his gift in civilian pilot training at Sunflower Junior College in Moorhead (now Mississippi Delta Community College), played clarinet in the school band there and at Mississippi State, before receiving an appointment to the United States Naval Academy.  Graduating from the Naval Academy Class of '47 (with an accelerated graduation in 1946 due to the war), he soon earned his wings as a Naval aviator, flying single-engine Corsair fighters.

While aviation launched his imagination into the skies, his heart belonged on the ground to the great love of his life, his childhood sweetheart, Virginia Jones of Black Hawk, Mississippi. They married soon after his Naval Academy graduation at the Black Hawk Methodist Church in 1946. For nearly seven decades, they shared a deep and boundless love that resulted in six children, nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Commander Sanders' 26-year Navy career took him and his family to stations in California, Florida, Tennessee, Japan, Maryland and Virginia. In addition to serving in fighter squadrons, his career also included assignments in military intelligence, ROTC at Vanderbilt University, and teaching operations research at the Naval Academy.  Following retirement from the Navy, Commander Sanders was an operations analyst with Ketron, Inc. in Arlington, Virginia.  After a career at sea and around the world, they returned to Carroll County in 1980, building the house they would call the Homestead where the growing Sanders family gathered over and over again. Long matches of croquet in the front yard, competitive cousin card games and dinners requiring up to four tables to hold all the food, family, and guests were signature Homestead events for nearly 40 years.

Commander Sanders was a true renaissance man. He read voraciously, from spy novels and Mississippi authors to presidential histories and biographies, and he relished his visits to Turnrow Book Company. He roared at newspaper cartoons, especially Calvin & Hobbes, and his classic jazz vinyl collection was rivaled only by his recordings of Chet Atkins, Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris and Broadway musicals. He loved his 1961 Corvette, an extravagance for the young Navy officer with a growing family, but an expression of his appreciation for finer things. His house was filled with intricate, three-dimensional puzzle sculptures as well as brainteasers to challenge and amuse his grandchildren. He was a prolific letter-writer, which included respectful correspondence to authors to correct inaccurate references, and he encouraged the lost art with graduation gifts of classic pen sets. A Sophia Loren film noir of the 1950s could capture his attention for an afternoon, but he was equally at home with the Egg Bowl or the college basketball teams of his children's many alma maters.

A devout United Methodist, he believed himself called to a life of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion. He was a brother at the Mississippi State University chapter of Kappa Sigma Fraternity and a Scottish Rite 33 ^rd Degree Master Mason of Carrollton Lodge No. 36 for over 75 years. He was generous and faithful in his giving to church and philanthropy to support those seeking higher education. In his later years, he gave and gave until, finally, his great heart gave out. All who loved were welcome in his world. Ours is the poorer for his passing.

Predeceased by his parents and his wife, Virginia Jones Sanders, Commander Sanders is survived by his children, Wilton T. Sanders, III (Sue Milch) of Madison, WI; Captain John R. Sanders USN (Ret.) (Judy) of Crozet, VA; Paul A. Sanders (Rose Ann Sullivan) of Reston, VA; Laurie S. Lee (Tom) of Nashville, TN; Ernest D. Sanders II (Christine) of Falls Church, VA; and Susan S. Byrd (Pat) of Brandon, MS; his nine grandchildren, John R. Sanders, Jr. of Brooklyn, NY; James R. Sanders (Angela Adams) of Kailua, HI; Annie Laurie Sanders (Shy Lev-Ari) of Denver, CO; Robert W. Sanders of Eugene, OR; Katherine G. Sanders of Eugene, OR; Paul H. Sanders of Springfield, VA; Virginia C. Lee of Nashville, TN; Andrew P. Byrd and Matthew C. Byrd of Brandon, MS;  and two great-grandchildren, Dylan J. Sanders and Jacob S. Lev-Ari. We are grateful for the love and support of family and friends, including nieces Anne Turnage (Jeff) and Edee Temple (Ed), nephew Edward Sanders (Krista) and for the special care provided to him by Connie Givens and Alfreda Smith, for James Funderburk, Marion Boggs and their Black Hawk church community who made it possible for Commander Sanders and his wife to live out their full days at home.

Memorials may be made to Delta Grace P. O. Box 218 Sunflower, MS  38778 (deltagrace.org), the Hayden Turner Lee Endowed Scholarship at MDCC Foundation, P.O Box 710, Moorhead, MS 38761 or the charity of your choice.