Our classmate, tall, soft-spoken Michael G. Sanford, 62, passed away on Friday, January 15, 2010. He was a long time Mt. Vernon resident.
Mike was born on June 6, 1947 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of William and Carol (Edwards) Sanford. When the family moved to Anacortes it became the place where he was raised and attended school.
After graduating from Anacortes High School Mike attended and graduated from Skagit Valley College with an Associates Degree in Psychology. He then attended and graduated from Central Washington University and then from Washington State University with a Masters in Political Science. He worked for many years as a manager for Whitney Fidalgo Seafood and then for Midway Distributing. For the past several years he has been a sales clerk at Home Depot in Burlington.
In his early years Mike had some alcohol issues and for the past 28 years has been faithfully attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, often attending 2 to 3 meetings a day around Skagit County. He kept meticulous records of his meetings attendance and in 2009 alone had attended over 800 meetings where he would just chat with or even council some of the attendees.
Mike is survived by his son, James Sanford (Shelly) of Sedro-Woolley, WA and his daughter, Tracy Fleck of Kalispell, MT. His step-children, Darla Landreth of Gold Bar, WA and Scott Johnson (Melissa) of Coupeville, WA. His nine grandchildren, Tyler, Tiara & Shawn Plummer, Faith & Emily Sanford, Cody & Kelsi Hodgin and Elliott & Stella Johnson and four great-grandchildren. His brother, Jack Sanford; two sisters, Diane Zieman and Joyce Stutts & her husband, John and two nieces, Sandy Zieman and Kathleen Stutts all of Maryland and good friends Jeff and Melody Lee, John and Charlene Guidinger and Harlan Smith. He was preceded in death by his mother, Carol Sanford and his father and step-mother, William & Gertrude Sanford.
A Memorial Service was held on Saturday, January 30, 2009 in Sedro-Woolley.
