Arkansas-Louisiana Conference President, 1948-1954
His Early Years
Floyd Orval Sanders was born on September 19, 1904, in Princeton, Indiana, to Augustus and Elsie Sanders. His brother, Wilbur, was born when Floyd was three years old (Ancestry, 2020). Floyd met Mary Elmyra Bowers at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan (formerly EMC), and in 1927 they were married and entered a lifetime of ministry together (Grave, 2014).
Years of Ministry
By 1935, Elder Floyd O. Sanders was pastoring in the Indiana conference (Herald, 1935). The Sanders had one son, Leon Floyd Sanders, born March 5, 1937, in Terre Haute, Indiana. By 1941, Elder Sanders was the president of the Indiana Conference (Herald, 1941). In 1943, Elder Sanders became the Carolina Conference president, serving there until 1948, when he became president of the Arkansas-Louisiana Conference until 1954 (Worker, 1943; Record, 1948). Elder Sanders went to Kansas as the conference president in 1954 where he served until 1962. He was president of the Nebraska Conference from 1962 until 1970 and the new boys’ dormitory completed at Platte Valley Academy in 1970 was named for him (Journal, 1971).
Retirement Years
When Elder Sanders retired from active denominational service in 1970, he and Mary moved to Keene, Texas. He enjoyed painting, and he and Mary traveled to various places to sell his original oil paintings (Grave, 2014). Elder Sanders died April 27, 1993, in Cleburne, Texas, and is buried at the Keene Cemetery.
Citations
(1935, Mar. 19). Lake Union Herald, p. 9.
(1941, Feb. 18) Ibid., p. 2.
(1943, Sep. 1) Southern Union Worker, pp. 1, 3.
(1948, Jul. 7) Southwestern Union Record, p. 1.
(1971, May 9). Platte Academy to Honor Sanders. Lincoln Journal Star, p. 35.
(1993, Jul. 1) Southwestern Union Record, p. 26.
Ancestry.com. (2020, Jun. 13). Floyd Orval Sanders. Retrieved from ancestry.com.
Find a Grave. (2014, Feb. 20). Mary Elmyra Bowers Sanders. Retrieved from findagrave.com.
How it all Began 