Joan Shirley Sanders
Joan Shirley Sanders (Wright), 87, joined our heavenly Father in heaven July 14, 2022, at her home in Buda, Texas. Joan was born on June 3, 1935, the eldest child of Dorothy Mary Holdsworth and John M. Wright in Bradford, Yorkshire, England. She was educated at Bradford Girls’ Grammar School and Stansfield’s Business School.
Joan emigrated to the United States in 1955, sponsored by her second cousin, Evelyn Holdsworth of Texas, and started her adventure with her distant cousins, Ethel and Jim Day, at the Day Ranch in Loma Vista, Texas. Joan endured the Texas heat and lack of air-conditioning, wore blue jeans, rode horses, and enjoyed the Texas hospitality and good manners of the cowboys who worked at the ranch. Joan toured Texas with her many cousins and settled in Crystal City as a receptionist/secretary for what became Del Monte. Joan returned to England after several years and traveled to Italy, France and Switzerland. In 1963, Joan emigrated again, this time to California, where she met and married the love of her life, Boteler Wood Sanders (Bodie). Bodie and Joan traveled all over America, but loved Austin and eventually settled in Buda, Texas, where they celebrated a marriage of 59 years this year. Joan and Bodie joined First Baptist Church of Buda in 1998 where they remained active members until her last illness.
Joan was an avid dog lover and volunteered for many years with the local P.A.W.S. Animal Shelter, writing newspaper articles and the quarterly newsletter, organizing the booth at Budafest, and taking puppies to area nursing homes.
Joan is survived by her loving husband, Boteler Wood Sanders (Bodie), sister Dorothy (Wright)
Bracken of Pontefract, England, niece, Rachel Joanna Bracken-Singh, of Jaipur, India, nephew, Jonathan Andrew Bracken, of Leeds, England, great nieces and nephews, Eve Hannah Bracken, Alexander George Bracken, Daniel Robert Bracken, Morsumi Georgia Bracken-Singh, Ameya Saba Bracken-Singh, and Ianthe Dia Bracken-Singh. Bodie Sanders expresses his deep gratitude for the loving and enduring care Joan received from Rosamaria Arredondo and Ignacio Arredondo during Joan’s illness. Joan and Bodie request that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to P.A.W.S. of Kyle, Texas and the National Audubon Society. A Memorial Service celebrating Joan’s life will be held at First Baptist Church of Buda, Texas, August 18, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., Rev. Buddy Johnson officiating. All are welcome.
