Elaine Cole Sanders

Elaine Sanders died on September 1, 2022, at Richland Place in Nashville, TN.

Born on June 23, 1923 to Willie Thrasher Cole and Joseph Forrest Cole in Atlanta, GA, she was 99 yrs. young.  Elaine married the love of her life, The Rev. Patrick H. Sanders, as a young woman.  Married to a musician, a Marine pilot in two wars, an engineer, and an Episcopal priest, all in one man, Elaine and Pat lived in a variety of Southern states and cities, always helping people along the way. While activists in the 1960’s in the Mississippi Delta, they both advocated for the freedom, rights, and equality of all people. They continued this work throughout their lives.

Elaine was preceded in death by her parents, brother, Forrest Cole, and sister, Emilie Wingfield, and her husband, and is survived by her children, Michael Sanders, his wife, Peggy, their son Clay, and his wife, Susannah Pugh in MASS; Helen Sewell Catlow, her husband, Bill in Loxley, AL, and her son Glenn Sewell, his wife, Jenny Goransson, and Elaine’s great grandchild, Ella, in Alexandria, VA; and Barbara Sanders, her husband, John Waide, and son, Isaac Waide, in Nashville, TN.

Elaine will be remembered as one of the most beautiful, loving, kind, and compassionate people on earth.  She enjoyed giving herself and her strength to all people, especially the impoverished, the young, the oppressed, and the elderly.  Everyone who knew her loved her.

As Elaine approached her transformation through death, she was surrounded by peace, grace, and love for all people, for all animals, and for Mother Earth herself. A memorial service will be held in Meridian, MS, at a later time at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

She has asked that donations be made to:

1. The James Lawson Institute: https://saveourplanet.org/projects/james-lawson-institute(https://jameslawsoninstitute.org/)
2. Planned Parenthood:https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/local/tennessee
3. NAACP: paypal.me/tscnaacp27, http://www.tnnaacp.org/about-us
4. The Center for Contemplative Justicein association with St. Augustine’s Chapel, Nashville: https://www.tcfcj.org/donate

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