Betty Lee Sanders fell asleep in the Lord at her residence on Easter Sunday morning, April 20, 2014. She was 85 years old. She was the youngest daughter of William Oscar Barnes and Pearl Gladden Barnes, and the grand-daughter of Sarah Frances Baker Gladden, one of the seventeen young survivors of the Mountain Meadow Massacre, September 11, 1859, in Mountain Meadows, Utah. Born near Wainwright, OK in Muskogee County, Betty lived in the Muskogee area most of her life until her retirement years when she lived first at Flint Ridge, OK, then moved to Oklahoma City where she lived the remainder of her life. Betty married Elmer Junior Montgomery in 1948; they had two children: Brenda Gayle Montgomery and Ronald Bruce Montgomery. Betty served almost thirty years in the employment of the City of Muskogee, the majority of those years as the Director of Purchasing for the City. As an early member of the National Association of Purchasing Managers, she was the first woman in the US to achieve the rank of Certified Purchasing Manager, or CPM. Betty was a long-time member of First Assembly of God Church in Muskogee, where she made and enjoyed life-long friendships, among whom were Jessie Hanson, Honey Colburn, Thelma Taylor, and Mae Featherston. In 1974, Betty married Ken Sanders, who preceded her in death in 2007. She always considered Ken's children, Cheryl and Brad, and their children, as part of her family. Betty and her family were shaken nineteen years ago this month by the untimely death of her grandson, Nicholas Montgomery. Since then, she has long looked forward to being reunited with him. Easter Sunday was that day! She is survived by her daughter, Brenda Taylor (and her husband, Steve), and by her son, Bruce (and his wife, Kathy); by her sister, Lillian Luttrell; by four grandchildren, Aaron Taylor, Andrea Corbishley, Erik Montgomery, and Sarah Kowaleski; by eight great-grandchildren, Elisabeth Taylor, Nicholas Taylor, Caleb Russell, Bailee Russell, Nicholas Montgomery, Natalie Montgomery, Lane Norrid, and Henley Kowaleski; and by several nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at 2pm Wednesday, April 23, at Mercer-Adams Funeral Home, 3925 N. Asbury in Bethany, OK and burial will follow at the Bethany City Cemetery.

Notes: Marriage years 1948 and 1974 respectively, added per auto SAC on 17 Apr 2022. Special thanks to contributors: 46957743, et al.