06/06/2026
VALERIE KAY SANDERS
OBITUARY
Valerie Kay Sanders, age 77, of Manitou Springs, Colorado, passed away on June 2, 2026, at UC Memorial Hospital Central, Colorado Springs, following cardiac and respiratory failure. After suffering cardiac arrest, Valerie fought hard for twelve days but ultimately her condition was too severely compromised.
Valerie was born to Marvin John Sanders and Alta Ruth Catlin Sanders on February 14, 1949, surely the best Valentine’s present they ever received. Valerie grew up on the family farm at Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, graduating from Blooming Prairie High School in 1967. She then followed her mother’s footsteps in attending Winona State College, Winona, Minnesota, and received her Bachelor’s Degree in 1972. Intending to pursue a career in teaching as her mother had, for a time Val taught and worked in Minnesota but, having always fancied a life in the wide-open spaces where horses were integral to the fabric of the culture, she set off to Colorado, and began teaching at a parochial elementary school in Canon City. She soon shifted gears and took a position in Colorado Springs. But her career path then took a twist.
Having worked as a legal assistant in her Winona days, Valerie left teaching and began a long career as a legal assistant, paralegal and administrator, working for several different law firms in Colorado Springs, with a brief interlude in Taos, New Mexico, before returning to Colorado Springs for many years until retirement. The work could be stressful with long hours, so away from the office she turned her attention to, and immersed herself in, interests she most loved. She was an avid reader, lined her apartment walls with overloaded bookcases, and participated in book clubs in Manitou Springs, her long-time home. She loved nothing more than to be a part of its annual Author Fest with fellow literature lovers, bringing celebrity writers to the community.
Valerie also had a love of the culture of the Southwest and of Native Americans, dressing her walls with art and posters reflective of those interests, and even blending that interest with legal experience by assisting an attorney devoted to Native American issues.
Cats. Valerie never met a cat, a cat story, a cat picture or a cat-related trinket that didn’t get her attention or tug at her heart. Many of her friends shared the same interest with her. Over the years, she had many cat companions -- always preferring, she said, the males because the females were “too pissy.”
Valerie is survived by her only sibling, brother John Sanders and his wife, Gail Owen; two nieces, Jane Sanders (Hendrik Van’tHof) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Libbie Hesch (Tony) of Blaine, Minnesota; their children and Val’s grand nephews, Charlie Hesch, Owen Hesch, Sander Van’tHof, and grand niece, Violet Van’tHof; first cousin Catherine Morrison of St. Paul, Minnesota; and very special friend, Karen West of Manitou Springs, who caringly aided Val in countless ways during their long friendship, especially as her health deteriorated and she needed more assistance to remain living independently. Valerie loved and cherished her family and friends, and is remembered especially by nieces Jane and Libbie as a fun loving, ‘with it’ aunt who was supportive and understanding of the younger generation. Valerie was preceded in death by her parents.
No memorial services will be held in Colorado. Valerie will be interred at a future, to-be-determined time at the Sanders family plot, St. Columbanus Cemetery in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota.
