I was born, at a very young age, on 4 December 1941 at St Luke’s Hospital in Boise, Ada County, Idaho, as the second son of Orville Thomas Sanders (born 26 October 1914 at Alpena Pass, Boone County, Arkansas) and Reah Wardle Sanders, born in 18 May 1919 at St. Anthony, Fremont, Idaho)

My parents were a beautiful young couple. Dad, at 6’1”, was blond, handsome, very strong and athletic and Reah, at 5’2”, was a very pretty, petite blond. In the depth of the great Depression in the mid-1930s, my Dad, with his father, left Ashland, Kansas and jumped a freight train to Boise, Idaho to find work. Some of his brothers were already there and encouraged them to make the trip. Mom came to Boise when she was yet a little girl about 9 years old. Her Father developed cancer on his nose in St Anthony and they were destitute. Her brothers had migrated to Boise and were able to get a little work and, by pooling their money, were able to buy a small acreage upon which they built tent houses for the family wherein my mother lived as a child until they were able to build a little house on the property.

Orville Thomas, who Mom called Tom, and Reah, who Dad called Reah, were married 18 June 1938. Tom was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1 September 1939. They were sealed in the Logan Temple 18 June 1940 and little Tommy was sealed to them. They were a very loving couple and great, faithful and exemplary parents.

Dad started his boy scouting leadership career shortly after he joined the church, called as assistant scout master and served for many years as scout master after we moved to Caldwell with as many as 60 Scouts at a time with little help.

When I was born, they were living in a garage across an alley from land they had purchased and upon which Dad was building a one room house designed to be expanded. Dad had two jobs, a milk route and a bread route and built the home, with help from Mom and family help, the rest of the time.

Harry James joined our family 17 May, 1943 and was a very sweet little brother. Some of my earliest memories are of Jimmy with the Mom and Tommy. All three of us were very blond and very busy. Jimmy and I loved to sniff flowers.

Dad soon added a kitchen, bathroom, parents’ bedroom, porch-which served also as a bedroom for Tommy and me, a shop and coal storage out-building connected to the house by a covered parking area.