Lemuel Clyde Sanders and
Zaley Marie Webb
October 16, 1999

Lemuel Clyde Sanders, the only child of Lemuel Harris Sanders and Mable Scribner, was born November 26, 1911 in Hominy, Osage County, Oklahoma. Clyde’s dad was a farmer and soil conservationist. They had several acres of farm land and had horses, pigs, chickens, and cattle. Clyde and his parents lived and worked a farm at Pryor, Oklahoma for thirteen years before moving to Greenfield, Missouri in 1924. Clyde attended school at a nearby Pryor school house in Missouri. After the move to Greenfield, he managed to finish only 10 years of education. He continued to work with his Dad on the farm into his late twenties. In 1936, after eleven years in Missiouri, Clyde and his parents returned to Pryor, Oklahoma. The reason is not known.

Sometime around 1939, Clyde and his dad were delivering some goods to the Mitchell farm, a well-to-do family who had hired some local folks to help tend to the house and the land. On this particular trip, Clyde’s dad, Lem, came to the front door on the porch and was greeted by a female. Her name was Zaley Marie Webb. Clyde stood leaning against the old truck and caught the scene as Zaley came to the door. Lem introduced himself and Clyde to Zaley, and that was the first meeting of Clyde and Zaley. Clyde was so fancied by Zaley that he decided to call upon her. Courting to Clyde was doing things together, so he frequented the Mitchell farm lots of times to spend time with Zaley. As a result a fondness grew between them.  (Photo: Clyde and Opal)

Not long after that, Clyde’s dad, Lem, came down ill and contracted pneumonia. Lem was ill for several days in a hospital and passed away February 18, 1940. Clyde assumed his dad’s duties of the farm and helped his mother. Two months later, on May 18, 1940, Clyde and Zaley were married in Pryor at a home. Sam Sanders gives an account of Clyde’s proposal as told by Zaley:

“It was kind of funny how Clyde proposed. Clyde had come out to the Mitchell farm to help with pitching some hay in the barn. At this particular time, Clyde had gone out to the barn to do this chore. I later came out to the barn to see Clyde about something. After entering the barn, I found Clyde pitching away at the hay. Right out of the blue, Clyde blurts out without looking up: ‘Do you want to get married?’ I said, ‘yes’. He said this without breaking the rhythm of the pitching of the hay. I just went back to the house and announced the event.”

Zaley came to live on the farm with her new husband, Clyde, and his mother, Mable, there at Pryor, Oklahoma. This had worked out for several years.

Zaley Marie Webb was born April 4, 1914 about a mile and a half west of Siloam Springs, Arkansas in Delaware County, Oklahoma. She was the daughter of Alonzo Donley Webb and Lola Ethel Jordon, also a farming family. Zaley’s mother was part Cherokee which now makes all of her descendents part Cherokee. Zaley was the second of five children who included: Harlen, Zaley, Bob, Orena, and Lee. Zaley’s family lived in Delaware County and near Pryor all of her early years up until Clyde and she married. Zaley’s brother entered the Armed Forces during the second World War while sister Orena ended up getting married and moving to California. Since Zaley and Clyde tended the farm, they remained on the farm with Mable until 1946. Clyde never had to serve in the Armed Forces. Before Zaley was married, it was not easy for her family, but they recalled that they were still happy. Because of a strong mother and a happy and safe welfare, they got through the death of their dad, Alonzo, in December of 1918. Zaley’s mom was pregnant with Lee at the time Alonzo died. While still with a very young family, Lola Ethel had to go to work while requiring the kids to be cared by friends and to learn to make a home on their own. No wonder it came natural for Zaley to know how to make a home and tend to its needs. Anything that faced her in the future ought to be easy compared to this livelihood.

Zaley attended school in Pryor and completed only 10 years of school. In later years, it became necessary to help the family out in whatever way she could. This is how Zaley and her mother ended up tending to house cleaning at the Mitchell farm near Pryor.

While Clyde and Zaley and mother Mable attended the farm at Pryor, Orena Ethel was born on July 19, 1942. Orena Sanders Granneman recalls some details about the farm:

“I can remember the chicken house. I am not sure which direction it was from the house. I met recently the folks who own the farm now. They took an aerial view (photograph) of the house. They built a big brick house on the farm, but the old house is still standing. I remember a (water) well was down the hill, it seemed like it was on the east side of the house, where we had to go get water from. It had an outhouse, I think. I don’t remember any bathrooms. The barn was west of the house. I can remember mother and daddy talking about they having a barn burn down one time. I don’t know if I was born at that time. There is a smaller barn there now. We moved from that farm to Siloam Springs and I started school in Siloam Springs.”

In 1946, Clyde and Zaley and his mother sold the farm at Pryor. Clyde bought another farm about 5 miles southwest of Siloam Springs and mother Mable bought a two-story house within Siloam Springs. By this time, Clyde and Zaley had Orena – age 4, and Trena Marie, who was just born on Christmas day of 1945. Zaley commented one time that it messed up her Christmas dinner plans. Orena and Trena were born at the hospital in Pryor.

During the period of time Clyde had the farm near Siloam Springs, Zaley was expecting their third child. On December 15, 1947, little Lonnie Lemuel Sanders was born a month early, but Lonnie died the next day, and it broke the family’s heart. Clyde took it really bad and was heart broken. The event caused Clyde to start examining his life. It wasn’t long after, Clyde and the family attended a tent revival meeting in the area. There, Clyde surrendered his life to Jesus Christ and was spiritually born again. Clyde believed that maybe God had to bring about the event of Lonnie’s death to get his attention and to sort of kick off a calling for Clyde to minister in some way for the Gospel of Christ. It was a few years later, while a member of the State Line Gospel Tabernacle, Clyde felt a calling to become a minister. In the last years of the ‘40’s, the farm was sold and Clyde moved the family to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to attend Piedmont Bible College. While at Winston-Salem, the college had a trailer court for the students, and the family lived in a trailer. Clyde had only attended classes for a semester and then returned to Springdale, Arkansas. Clyde found a house and some work to do in Springdale. He didn’t get any church work right away, so he worked in the Welch’s Grape Factory making Welch’s grape jelly. He also sold Watkin’s Products door-to-door, spices and household cleaning products. Clyde was licensed to preach the Gospel at the First Baptist Church, Springdale, Arkansas, July 2, 1952.

On June 8, 1951, while the family lived at Springdale, a son was born to Clyde and Zaley. This son was Daniel Clyde, and he was born on June 8 at the hospital in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

In the later half of 1952, Clyde was called to pastor a Baptist church in Splitlog, Missouri, not far from Carthage on Highway 71. Clyde was ordained to the Gospel ministry at this church on September 25, 1952.

Zaley had been a born-again Christian since she was a teen in Pryor, Oklahoma. Becoming a pastor’ wife somehow came easy for her, having to live with all the moving and expectations imposed upon her. Once they were married, Zaley never had to work outside the home until many years later. Clyde and the family stayed at Splitlog for about a year and a half, and then moved to Cave Springs, Missouri to pastor a church. It wasn’t long until Clyde found another church to pastor at Walker, Missouri. This move proved to be a rather unpleasant experience. Clyde met unruly behavior from kids in the church, and several church members would boldly combat Clyde’s preaching with their own interpretation of scripture, quoting Bible verses as to support their behavior that Clyde’s preaching would condemn. Zaley would cry while driving home from Sunday night services over the whole messy thing. About the only pleasant occurance of the time was the birth of Samuel Lee Sanders on June 5, 1953. Because of the low income from these churches in which Clyde served, Clyde did occasional odd jobs, like driving a truck for a restaurant owner, and hauling loads of watermelon from Texas.

In 1955, the family took a vacation out to California to visit Zaley’s mom, sister, and brother. After they return home, Clyde resigned the church at Walker and began pastoring a church in Edgar Springs, Missouri. Shortly after about a year, the family again moved, this time to New Haven, Missouri. Clyde pastored in New Haven at the Memorial Baptist Church until 1961. We had lived in several homes during that time, mainly because our rented housing kept getting sold or we looked for something better. Several noteable events happened during that time. Daughter Orena graduated from high school and met future husband, Norman Grannemann. Son, Sammy, surrendered to Jesus at the age of 7 during a revival meeting. Both Clyde and son, Sammy, came down with Appendicitis and had appendectomies. Grandma Mable Sanders came to live with the family then, because she was not able to care for herself after surgery for breast cancer.

Sam recalls the following about living at New Haven: 

“ There are special memories I have about New Haven. I remember the red-brick school house across the street from our house where I attended my first grade. The first grade teacher was Mrs Stock, who was also the pianist at my dad’s church. I remember that New Haven had frequent snow falls, and my brother, Danny, and I would play in the snow, building snow houses. New Haven is a hilly town, and finding a hill to ride a sled was easy. Our school had a big slope in the back yard where I snow sled in the winter months.”

In 1961, the family moved to Shelbyville, Missouri, not far from Quincy, Illinois, leaving Orena behind in a New Haven apartment awaiting her wedding day. Shelbyville was a pretty little town with a stylish court house block and one of the prettiest little Baptist churches Clyde had pastored. Grandma Mable Sanders moved with us to Shelbyville, and passed away there at our home just days before Christmas in 1961.

Sam recalls: 
“Shelbyville was one of my favorite places to live. I have good memories of Shelbyville. There were encouraging people in the church, who sparked musical and spiritual interests that contributed to my musical interest in later years. I learned to ride a bicycle in the shaded yard of our house. I used to hunt for lost coins in the gravel street next to the court house after a carnival had visited the town. I remember walking about five blocks to school in the winter through 6 to 12 inches of snow. I made a special friend, Janis, who I felt was my very first girl-friend. When just after a year living in Shelbyville, we moved again, this time to North Carolina. I really hated leaving Shelbyville and regretted Dad taking us from there for many years to come.”

Clyde became pastor of the Baptist church in Wade, North Carolina, about 12 miles out of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Those were eventful years for the family. The family lived at Wade for about four years. Daughter Trena started dating Herman Moore, which Clyde was dead set against. Despite Clyde’s wishes, Trena and Herman eloped and were married across the state line in South Carolina. Being the Christians they were, parents and Trena got reconciled over time and welcomed the addition to the family, including Trena’s new daughter, Pamela.

Sam recalls: 
“I guess you could say that my parents were a little strict with us kids. Fortunately, there was a balance of love in the family. My parents were faithful and had good habits in leading the family in Bible devotions and prayer. Like many pastor’s families, Dad’s attention was more on the church life than the home life. As a result I don’t remember frequent activities just with us kids. However we had a Dad and Mom always there. Us kids were much closer, communication-wise, with our Mom. Dad was usually the last authority on matters. He, his dad, and dads before them were probably all stubborn and unwaivering. Dad didn’t know how to show love with words, until one day while visiting him in retirement, he shared that he regretted not spending time with us kids through the years.”

Schools were better in North Carolina then they seem to be in Missouri at that time. Danny and Sammy received schooling at county schools. Around 1966 the family moved to Kinston, North Carolina, about 70 miles away from Wade. Clyde became pastor of a mission church under the First Baptist church called Glen Raven Baptist Church. The church was small, but it served as Clyde’s last church to pastor for he stayed pastor there for fourteen more years until his retirement. Because of the long stay at Kinston, the kids grew, the sons, Danny and Sammy, graduated from High school and continued their lives elsewhere. Danny went to school at Watts Hospital for x-ray technology and Sammy joined the Air Force in 1972 to gain a means of paying for his college. The Vietnam War was going on then, and the boys escaped military draft, Danny for medical reasons, and Sammy by enlisting into the Air Force.

Clyde and Zaley had served as house parents at the nearby Baptist children’s home at Kinston for about a nine month period, sometime around 1967. Clyde had realized he was not cut out to be the authority young unruly boys needed, so Clyde gave it up. However Zaley continued to be a cook for the children’s home for many years until she retired around 1979. At retirement, Clyde and Zaley, tried living near Charlotte, North Carolina, but it wasn’t long until Clyde yearned to be back home in Arkansas and Oklahoma. In 1980, they moved back to Siloam Springs, the former hometown of Clyde’s mother. Clyde and Zaley were fortunate to participate in a Senior citizen’s apartment complex and lived there until shortly after Clyde’s death. Clyde’s health began getting worse during his retirement, while Zaley was still able and willing to serve people around her. Zaley helped other senior adults with meals and baths, and just being a frequent visiting friend. Their kids tried to make visits back to their home every year when possible. One time Clyde and Zaley were visited by surprise at Christmas time. Dan, Trena, and granddaughter Pamela arrived by bus in Fort Smith on a very cold, wintry morning at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. There, Sam met them by car and drove them all to Siloam Springs to surprise Clyde and Zaley at Christmas. That was one of several times, the family warmed up in that little apartment while snow fell outside.

In May, 1990, the family gathered together in Siloam Springs to celebrate Clyde and Zaley’s 50^th wedding anniversary. It was a happy time for all. Old friends and kinfolk came from far away.

In 1992, Clyde’s health began to fail him. Clyde had already undergone stomach and knee surgeries. Age began to take it’s toll, and Clyde began forgetting who people were. Because of failing bodily functions, Clyde died on August 22, 1992 at the hospital in Rogers, Arkansas. Clyde was laid to rest at Bell Cemetery south of Siloam Springs where other members of Zaley’s family are buried. Clyde was 80 years of age.

Zaley seemed to always have endurance and had a fairly healthy life. However after Clyde had passed away, Zaley fell because of a popping in her back. The doctor diagnosed her with osteoporosis. From that point onward, Zaley’s health began to fail. When it became unreasonable for Zaley to care for herself, Zaley was moved to New Haven to live close to her daughter Orena. While staying at the Haven Manor Nursing Home in New Haven, Zaley passed away on August 6, 1996. It was said that when Zaley took a turn for the worse on that evening, she had a visit from the minister. It was while the minister was praying that Mom breathed her last breath. Zaley was laid to rest next to Clyde at Bell Cemetery, Adair County, Oklahoma. 

Zaley once wrote this poem in gratitude for her family:

Clyde Sanders and Zaley Webb were married on Saturday, May 18, 1940.

Times sure have changed since Clyde and Zaley got married. A three bedroom house cost under $4000 then. The average income was $2,310. Clyde would have put out only $700 for a new Ford, and then fill it with gas at 18 cents gallon.

If Clyde and Zaley turned on the radio back then, the “top 40 of 1940” would have included such songs as “Blueberry Hill,” “The Last Time I Saw Paris,” “When You Wish upon a Star,” “You are My Sunshine,” “Tuxedo Junction,” “Because of You,” and “All the Things You Are.”

The most popular radio shows were “Truth or Consequences,” “Ralph Edwards,” and “The Grand Ole Opry.” If Clyde listened to the World Series that year, he would have heard Cincinnati whoop Detroit. They may have heard First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt doing ads for charity.

On the political front, English Prime Minister Churchill offered "blood, toil, tears and sweat" while Germany invaded Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. Stateside sympathy may have been expressed by 3-time presidential winner, Franklin Roosevelt or Vice President John Nance Garner.

For recreation, the NY World's Fair opened for a 2nd year. The Best Movie was "Rebecca," and Best Actor and Actress were James Stewart and Ginger Rogers. Ronald Reagan appeared in "Knute Rockne, All American.'

Discoveries and other “firsts” of 1940 included the electron microscope, and the Rh factor in blood. Jeeps, M&M candies, fiberglass insulation, and “Woody Woodpecker” made their debuts. “Fantasia,” the first film with stereophonic sound, was produced by Walt Disney.

Memorial Service,  1996

"Dear Heavenly Father,

It has come the time for us to give back the soul of our mother, who has kept us tight within her loving arms through the years. May I offer at this time an opportunity to give honor and praise to her.

Honor ... Honor is an attribute that is earned. No one achieves honor on their own accord and without an audience. It is our obligation; with great and happy reflection, that we, the children of Zaley Marie Sanders, find ourselves giving an ovation to her for the things she has done in her life.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the times and memories that we hold dear to our heart, reflecting over the years with mother. remember constant care of we kids, performing unselfishly, the duties that kept we kids from killing ourselves. I remember the honor and respect she demonstrated to our father. When things got rough, being a small town preacher's wife, mother was there to support father and family. Somehow, she was able to teach us that a simple livelihood can be fulfilling and happy. Mother was the one that always kept focused on what is really important in this earthly life. Her message and actions taught one thing to us: "In all that we do, ask God if he would be pleased by our actions. Seek God's approval."

It's funny how, as children, we think of mothers as being physically eternal, always enduring, protected somehow by the eventual passing. That's what I had thought many times. I guess we all find out at some point that a mother's life has an end of season. I believe Mother deserved to be viewed at times to be immortal. After all, she exhibited the character of God: patience, caring, loving unconditionally, teaching and correcting, protecting, and even offering freedom of choice. Heavenly Father, in all of these wonderful traits about our mother, we honor her.

Mother was born the second of five children. Family life was sometimes tough. Sometimes I pick up the family history pictures and stare at the photo of her and feel the happiness she had with her brothers and sister. As I scan the images of her aging, I detect a maturity that grew from years of living through hard times by cleaning other peoples farmhouses. It was in that setting that a country farmer's son, Clyde Sanders, took notice of her, and he proposed to her while pitching hay, never breaking the rhythm of his work.

Well, we kids came along, and we experienced a mother that was caring, always joyful to make provisions, and having a sense of humor. There were many times that I was bent over, aching from laughter over a story or riddle that mother would share. It sometimes seemed like 45 minutes of hilarious activity that made me forget other bothersome worries.

In the past few days, the world watched the events of the Olympics. During that time we followed stories and the progress of various athletes who have sacrificed and toiled to get to their point of competition. With their hard work and determination, we observed how many of the U.S. athletes won adoration and honor. If there was a gold medal for mothers, our mother would be wearing it. I could go on and on about the time she cared for the ill and bedridden, or gave of her time and skills to benefit another. Mother had the gifts of Mercy and Servanthood ... very special gifts that she happily accepted and never complained about.

My kids have the videotape, "Babe," in which a small pig wins the respect of country shepherds that even sheep dogs can't do. When the farmer is convinced that the pig has a special gift, he confidently enters the pig in sheep herding competition. As the audience laughed, the farmer and Babe entered the arena and proceeded to exhibit the never-before-seen herding of sheep by a pig, skillfully arranging the sheep in formation. As the silent, and awe-stricken audience observed the closing of the routine, they burst into cheering applause. As the pig looked up at his master, the master looked down with a wink and a smile, and said in an approving voice, “That'll do, that'll do.”

We kids come to this memorial service knowing that God is now smiling at our mother, Zaley Marie, and saying approvingly, “That'll do.” We know that she lived a full life, a servant's role, well-deserving of rest and reward.

Father, in Heaven, let Mother know that she leaves a family and friends that have loved her, and hold her to be a major influence in their spiritual lives. She is going to be a tough act to follow. And, to Mother, may this heart of roses placed here, made by family members, be your badge of honor, your gold medal so to speak, because of your compassionate heart for others."

©  Sam Sanders.   All Rights Reserved
Last updated:  Sunday, June 03, 2007