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STEWART SANDERS REMEMBERED AS GIFTED MUSICIAN

By Wes Clement/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, July 24, 2009 10:04 PM CDT

Stewart Sanders, 86, of Pine Bluff, chief executive officer of Harlow Sanders & Company Inc., leaves many memories with those who knew him.

A cotton broker since 1945, Sanders was also passionate about his music.

Sanders died Wednesday.

“When I think about Stewart Sanders, I think of someone who was gifted in two ways,” Charles Bonner said. “The obvious one that the community knows about is his talent in the music field with his natural ability to play different instruments.”

Bonner and his wife, Genevieve, had an hour-long visit with Sanders Wednesday, what would be one of his last visits with friends.

“It was not unusual that he would come in Sunday morning before church, sit in the office and start arranging music for the orchestra,” Bonner said. “That’s a special, special gift.

Bible smarts

“The second thing was his knowledge of the Bible. Stewart was, I think, one of the oldest members of First Baptist Church in terms of years of membership.”

Bonner said Sanders had been part of the church family since the 1930s and since returning from World War II until just the past couple of weeks when he was unable to attend, Sanders had taught Sunday School at the church with dedication.

“He was a very, very good Bible student. During harvest times, he would get to the church just as Sunday School was starting. He would run up the stairs with cotton lint on his clothes from the cotton office to teach young boys the Bible.”

Sanders was a cotton broker for many years.

“He had a great devotion,” Bonner said. “That was a testimony to me, that he was teaching young boys, and I’m sure it made a great impression on them.” He said it was very much Sanders’ nature to be humble and not take credit for the many things he did for others.

Allison Dalrymple’s younger son was friends with Sanders’ grandsons, “The Sanders Twins,” and her family attended church at First Baptist with Sanders.

“Every now and then he would get up there and do a piano duet,” she said. “He would play ‘Just A Closer Walk With Thee,’ and whenever he did it you could almost close your eyes and feel like you’re in Preservation Hall in New Orleans.”

While a student at Ouachita College, Sanders stopped by the band room to get his clarinet after late afternoon classes and found the door was locked, a friend and fellow musician, Mike Pate, said.

Sanders had a gig that night at The Vapors in Hot Springs, so he walked around the building looking for an open window knowing the building did not have air-conditioning.

Several minutes later, as he started out of the window with his clarinet, he was spotted by the head of campus security and a dean at the school.

After Sanders’ father came to the rescue, it was strongly recommended he consider finishing his degree at Hendrix College and he did.

The life-long musician played with a young Liberace in the 1930s while working in Las Vegas. He also performed with Martha Ray’s Orchestra in Vegas.

“He was the most positive individual around,” Dalrymple said. “Even as sick as he was, he was always smiling, always had a good attitude and was always there in the choir.

“I feel like it’s the end of an era, and it’s sad.”

A memorial service will be held at First Baptist Church at 2 p.m. Saturday. A reception at the church will follow.

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