Bobby Joe Sanders

Bobby Joe Sanders passed away Friday morning, May 9, 2025, at the age of 91. Joe came into this world the first-born son to Robert B. and Tommie Murphree Sanders on June 15, 1933, on the land that had been in his family for generations. When he left this world, he was surrounded by family in his home on that same farm that had always been such a part of him.

The celebration of Joe’s life will begin at 11:00 AM Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in the Martin Willingham Memorial Chapel of Wells Funeral Home and his family welcomes friends at 10:00 AM for visitation immediately before the service. Following his service at 11:00 AM, Joe will be laid to rest in Center Hill Cemetery in Batesville, MS.

Memories of Joe will be treasured by his loving wife, Sylvia Kerr Sanders, of Batesville, Mississippi, and his daughter, Laura Sanders, of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for whom he was always her hero. Joe was preceded in death by his parents, Robert B. and Tommie Murphree Sanders, as well as his two sisters, Pat Sanders Darby and Judy Sanders Masterson and his brother-in-law Ellis Masterson. In addition to immediate family, he cherished the connections he sustained with numerous nieces and nephews, cousins and all who gained from his gentle (and always spot-on) advice. Family and friends were everything to Joe, but he also quietly became an ally to whomever had need of one, whether they were family, friend or total stranger.

Joe was raised as a country boy on a farm, and from his father and all his extended family learned the valuable lessons of hard work, self-sufficiency, honesty and treating others with kindness and empathy. He also learned skills that would define him throughout his life, including the ability to create things both practical and beautiful, and the uncanny knack he had of fixing absolutely anything! Through his creativity and ‘do-it-yourself’ expertise, he honed the virtue of patience to an art. (His daughter Laura often draws on his spirit by “channeling Joe Sanders” when a project she’s working on goes off the rails!)

After The Boardly School and Pope High School, Joe graduated from Northwest Mississippi Junior College and went on to serve as an SP3 in the US Army with the 97th AAA Battalion at Toyoumi Range in Japan for 2 years. He discovered his love of photography there and brought back magical images of lands so far from his home. Following his honorable service to his country, Joe returned to the farm in Mississippi to help his father until he began work building roads, which became his primary profession. He worked for over 40 years in construction, building many of the familiar bridges and overpasses in central and north Mississippi and southwest Tennessee. In addition to these most practical of creations, he drew on his natural talents for DIY and fixing anything to operate and maintain the construction equipment for several large companies. It was during this time that necessity led to Joe welding and he provided this service throughout his years as a mechanic with a welder in the back of a beloved Ford truck named “Old Blue”. Even after retirement, he continued to use his welder to make wonderful yard art and decorative pieces for his and Laura’s homes. During his time building roads, he also maintained a working cattle farm with his father and come rain or shine, Joe could be found on his quarter horse Buck with his trusty Border Collie Jake tending his cows.

Joe retired from construction in 2000 and adapted to this newfound freedom effortlessly. He became an avid fisherman, buying and “remodeling” several boats and continued to enjoy working in his shop making and fixing anything. He and Sylvia travelled extensively in their RV(remodeled by Joe of course!) and toured most of the United States with forays into both Canada and Mexico. In later years, Joe became a skilled vine dresser and winemaker, with his 'Sanders Creek' wines gaining fame in north Mississippi and the Gulf Coast for their delicious taste (and sometimes remarkable potency!).

Joe Sanders was a man who lived his life well and was richest in those things that truly matter--honor, integrity, loyalty, kindness and strength. His life and deeds touched many and he will live on so long as we hold him in our hearts. We are all the better for having known him.

Memorials to Joe may be made to Center Hill Cemetery, Tocowa Baptist Church or The American Cancer Society.