Luida Elizabeth Sanders, of Oshkosh, died on Aug. 2, 2014. She was born on April 21, 1917, in Rhinelander, the eldest daughter of Charles and Ida Sanders.
Although her parents operated a resort, Sanders House, on Lake Tomahawk when she was born, they moved to Hurley in 1919, shortly after the resort burned down. Thereafter, the family lived in several different Wisconsin towns, with Luida graduating from Wittenberg High School.
She completed a two-year teaching course at Central State Teachers’ College in Stevens Point and then taught in a one-room schoolhouse. She remembered that she was responsible for every facet of operating the schoolhouse, including cleaning, organizing supplies, lighting the fire before school to heat the room, and even hauling water for the children to wash up with. Teaching was a fulfilling job for her and she remembered those days fondly.
During World War II, she enrolled in the WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps) and served in secretarial roles, as a recruitment officer and in a hospital from 1943-1946. Her memories of these years were filled with pride for her country, her fellow service members and in the victory that ended this war. She remained active in many veterans’ organizations, including a service group that helped veterans improve their writing skills. She also was able to attend a memorial service at Normandy a few years ago. Although she previously traveled to Italy, France, England, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, the Holy Land and other countries, the trip to Normandy was the highlight of her world travels.
Luida lived in Madison for many years while she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For most of this time, she worked for the Wisconsin Department of Public Health. Later, she accepted a grant from the state of Wisconsin to study public health education and management at Berkeley, California, earning her second master’s degree. Thereafter, she worked for the Wisconsin Department of Instruction until her retirement and, eventually, relocated in Oshkosh.
Throughout her life, Luida found many activities interesting. She was a lay minister for the Methodist Church and held services for nursing homes, hospitals and those who were confined at home. She supported a memorial for the Sanders family in Lake Tomahawk and contributed to many other charitable organizations. She also volunteered at the Wisconsin Historical Society to which she donated many of the Sanders’ family papers, including correspondence from World War II between her mother, her brother and herself. Her avid interest in the Sanders, Clermont (Clairmont) and Cronk family histories provided many hours of pleasure for her, as did her traveling and talking with other genealogists.
Luida is survived by her nephew, Renny (Judy) Ohlsson, of Oshkosh; niece, Diette (Samuel) Sousek, of Gresham; nephew, Steven (Sandi) Sanders, of Oshkosh.
Those who went before her: her parents; her sister, Mary S. (Andy) Ohlsson; brother, Lewis (Dorothy Felts) Sanders; and Paul, an infant brother.
A memorial service for the family is planned for a later date.
We will miss her serene, calm approach to life, her intellectual curiosity, her love for the Ohlsson and Sanders family, and her devotion to the Methodist lay ministry. May she receive the reward for a life well lived. II Peter 1:11.
Categories
