Obituary of Bertha D. Sanders

Our Beloved Bertha Diaz Sanders, 75, passed away on October 7, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. Bertha's death was preceded by her husband's, W.A. "Bill" Sanders. Bertha was a kind-hearted, fun-loving, unselfish and giving person who enjoyed many things in life; especially spending time with her family and friends. Despite her many health challenges, Bertha never gave up the fight and remained in good spirits until the end. Bertha will certainly be missed. She left an indelible mark on anyone she met with, her wit and joy for life (apparent to anyone around her). Anyone who knew Bertha, knew that she loved to look forward to upcoming events and took pleasure in planning for them. Whether it was a big event like a holiday, a wedding, or a birthday, or a small event like a visit to family or friends, Bertha started planning months and weeks in advance because she loved the anticipation as much as the event. Bertha was always up for a good visit or a good party! One of her passions was cooking, and boy could she cook! She enjoyed trying new recipes and took much pleasure in grocery shopping and cooking with her son-in-law Brian Folsom (we're not sure if Brian would say the same). ;) In our family she was famous for her potato salad, chili beans, sour cream chicken enchiladas and corn fritters plus all of the holiday baked goods she made. When Bertha cooked, you came away a few pounds heavier and a whole lot happier. One of the many things Bertha enjoyed was shopping and especially shopping for Christmas. For Bertha, every day before and after Christmas was "Black Friday". She enjoyed the joy that her gifts brought to her family members and friends. She was indeed a generous and giving soul. She also wasn't above splurging on herself and loved collecting clothes and jewelry and was known by everyone for her style. At her dialysis center, she was known as the "Diva" because she always looked good and smelled good. Bertha also enjoyed traveling and living in different places. She and her husband Bill regularly traveled to California, Las Vegas and Laughlin and they had a penchant for moving from place to place often - very often. When asked once why she like moving so much, she said, "Hey, why not? Why stay in one place when there are so many other place to live?" Bertha grew up in Morenci, Arizona and took much pride in being a Morenci Wildcat. She made many lifelong friends in Morenci and always wanted to keep up with news (aka gossip) about friends from Morenci. She oftentimes reminisced about growing up in Morenci and about the great times she had there. As the eldest child in a family of six children, Bertha played the role of the eldest sibling well and always looked out for the wellbeing of her sisters and brother. Although distance often separated her from her siblings, Bertha always made it a point to stay in touch with them as often as she could. She was certainly a sister who could be counted on. Whether she was known as Bertha, Bert, Bertie, Berta, Auntie Bertha or Nana, she was a person who left a mark on everybody she met. She liked good food, a good laugh, a good baseball game (GO Dodgers!), a good song, a good movie; or any movie for that matter, a good book and especially a good game of bingo and wanted to share the things she liked with everyone around her. Up for a party - yup. Life of the party - yup. Bertha was also a proud woman - she took pride in the accomplishments of others and was happy to heap praise upon them for those accomplishments. She took much joy in learning about her nieces' and nephews' accomplishments and in hearing about and being a part of her grandkids' accomplishments. But her greatest source of pride was her children, Craig, Lisa and Oscar. Although she could be tough on them at times, she always showed them love and caring and raised them to be responsible and caring people. As a proud mother and grandmother, Bertha didn't hesitate to brag about her kids and grandkids (sorry folks) and took much joy in watching them grow up. For those of you who knew Bertha, take joy in knowing that you knew her - she certainly took joy in knowing you. Rest in peace Bertha, we will miss you but we know that wherever you are, you're having a great time being there. We invite Bertha's friends and family members to attend her memorial services on October 22nd at 9:00 am at: Bring's Broadway Chapel 6910 E. Broadway Blvd. Tucson, AZ 85710