Catherine (Cathy) Lenore Schanche Sanders

Catherine (Cathy) Lenore Schanche Sanders died on May 26, 2016, of metastatic breast cancer. She was born in Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames, Iowa on April 28, 1933 to Dr. Arthur Norman Schanche and Violet Hall Schanche. When she was three years old, her mother died of pneumonia, leaving eight-year-old sister Dorothy Marie (Marie) and four-year-old brother Arthur Farnum (Art) and Cathy. After two years, her father remarried his high school sweetheart, Aurora Kundert. Cathy spent all of her childhood and teenaged years in Ames. She was the first papergirl in Ames, while in the 5th and 6th grades, and taught swimming. She earned money detasseling corn, beginning when she was 14, along with all of her friends (and siblings!). In high school, she sang in the acapella choir. She graduated from Ames High in 1951 and attended Iowa State University, where she majored in Foods and Nutrition/Dietetics and was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. She sang in Iowa State's acapella choir and participated in Naiads, which was a women's synchronized swimming group. During college, she spent summers working at resorts in Minnesota. She graduated from Iowa State in 1955 and then had an internship at the University of Minnesota. Upon completion of her internship in 1956, she moved to Little Rock, where she began her career in dietetics, as she took a position as a registered dietician at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Center. While there, she met her future husband and love of her life, Dr. Louis Lee Sanders, who was a first year resident in internal medicine. Lou became a naval doctor in 1957, and Cathy, having saved up her salary, spent three months in Europe with Cappy Maley, a friend from her summers in Minnesota. Lou proposed while she visited him in California, where he was stationed. They were married in November, 1958, and upon his discharge from the military, they moved to Little Rock, where Lou continued his residency. There they had four daughters: Leslie, Meredith, Kim, and Shari. Cathy was involved with the UAMS Faculty Wives, where she was an officer. She spent most of her time serving and worshipping at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, where she and Lou sang in the choir and were members of the Pairs and Spares Sunday School class, which eventually became the Kearney Dietz Dialogue Class. She taught Sunday school and was president of her Sunday school class and Circle chairman, and a member of the staff/relations committee. She served in the hospital visitation ministry of the Stephen Ministry for several years. She was the driving force behind the establishment of the Columbarium Garden Board. She was a member of the choir for 56 years! But she spent most of her time parenting her daughters, shuttling them to many activities. She was a room mom, Girl Scout leader, and carpooled her girls to dance lessons, scouts, swim team practice and meets, horseback riding lessons, gymnastics team workouts, band rehearsals, and drill team practice. She also planned cross-country vacations, taking the family to twenty-one states and the District of Columbia by automobile. They spent many fall weekends at Arkansas state parks, a tradition that has continued with the grandchildren. Cathy worked as a dietician for the Little Rock Internal Medicine Clinic and then went into private practice. She retired in 2003. Cathy was a master gardener for 15 years. Lou & Cathy traveled on many master gardener trips, including a trip to England. They also traveled to Hawaii, Alaska, Israel, Egypt and France. Lou and Cathy were "gym rats", faithful members of the Little Rock Athletic Club for 23 years. She was an avid Iowa State Cyclones and Arkansas Razorbacks fan. Cathy always had a positive outlook on life, even fighting cancer. She LOVED people and never met a stranger! She is survived by her husband of almost 58 years, Dr. Louis L. Sanders, and her four children, in whom she engendered hope, character, the importance of service and love of life: Leslie Frank (Mitchell), Meredith Krebel (Steve), Kim Fuerst (Dave), and Shari Sanders. She is also survived by ten grandchildren: James, Andrew, and Natalie Frank; Grace Prigge (Andrew); Hunter, Hannah, Heather, and Halle Krebel; and Sara and Austin Fuerst. She is also survived by her sister, Marie Hart, and her brother, Dr. Arthur F. Schanche, (Mary Lou), and sister-in-law, Martha Sanders Speers (Jerry) and brother-in-law, Jack Sanders (Sara) and many nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank Shari, for sacrificing her career to care for mom, the staff and members of Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, the PHUMC Chancel Choir, especially Carol Isom, for organizing support for the family, and the Dietz Dialogue Sunday School class, and the staff at CARTI. Kearney Dietz made an eternal impact in Cathy's life. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 11th, at 11 a.m. at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church. Memorials may be made to Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, Louis L. Sanders M.D. Music Endowment, 4823 Woodlawn, Little Rock, Ark. 72205, or to CARTI, 8901 CARTI Way, Little Rock, Ark. 72205-6523.