“I think that Theresa Sanders was someone who had what you would call ‘a servant’s heart.’ To me, it’s just a perfect symmetry that she should be a social worker because of her deep commitment to serving people, and she had a special heart for older adults,” says Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings. “So I think she was just perfectly placed in her professional life because that was really an extension of her personal life.”
Ladson-Billings fondly remembers her good friend, Theresa Sanders, a longtime community activist and matriarch in the Madison community, who passed away on Jan. 28 at the age of 77.
During her career, Theresa Sanders worked as a social worker in child protective services and elderly services. Her professional service included roles with Gary, Indiana’s Department of Public Welfare and the Dane County Department of Human Services. She was instrumental in helping establish the Dane County Department of Human Services Aging and Disability Resource Center in Madison, as well as the NewBridge Madison elderly services location on Madison’s North Side.
(Photo by David Dahmer)
Sanders married Henry Sanders, Sr., on Sept. 5, 1970, whom she had known since she was 15 years old. Together, they made their home in Madison and shared 55 years of marriage rooted in faith, love, and commitment. The Sanders were blessed with two sons, Henry Sanders, Jr., CEO and publisher of Madison365 Media Foundation, and Marquis Sanders.
Sanders was a proud and active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the oldest nationally recognized sorority for African American women, founded in 1908 on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. She was initiated into the Zeta Chapter at Wilberforce University in 1970 and remained an engaged member for more than 50 years. She served as president of Madison’s Kappa Psi Omega chapter four times.
Ladson-Billings, the former Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education with the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, tells Madison365 that she has known Sanders for about 35 years as her friend and AKA sister in the Kappa Psi Omega chapter.
“She was someone who could not stand to see people suffer. I think some of us don’t like to see it, but are still able to turn a blind eye. Theresa was not able to do that. She just had to help,” Ladson-Billings tells Madison365.
Ladson-Billings and Sanders were regulars at AKA events, fundraisers, health walks, and celebrations, and often roommates on AKA trips throughout the country, Ladson-Billings says, with the last road trip taking place in the summer of 2022 in Orlando.
“I have more than 700 photos of Theresa and I together,” Ladson-Billings says. “I was shocked when I first tried to pull some pictures together after she passed and I plugged her name into my photo album, and it said, ‘You have 712 pictures together … do you want to see them all?’”
Frances Huntley-Cooper, the former mayor of Fitchburg and the first African American mayor elected to office in the state of Wisconsin, was also a dear friend of Sanders and a longtime AKA sister who tells Madison365 that she has known Sanders for more than 50 years.
“Theresa, I really got to know and love. She had incredible energy through the years and I marvel at how much she was always just giving back to the community,” Huntley-Cooper says. “Theresa was an expert in helping seniors, because that was her area. She was a social worker for Dane County with expertise in helping seniors. So, if anybody had a question, a problem, a concern about seniors … as Black folks, we would go to Theresa because she would be a great resource.
“Theresa would help everybody. She was always looking out for folks. I appreciated that, because you could always count on her,” Huntley-Cooper adds. “You may not always agree, but you could always count on her. If she said she was going to do something, she did it. She did it with style, did it with class, did it with passion.”
(Photo by David Dahmer)
Tina Murray, along with her husband, Ed, came to Madison in August 1992, was so impressed by the way that Sanders welcomed them to their new community that they became lifelong friends.
“A neighbor of Theresa’s, who worked with her husband, invited us over for her child’s birthday party, and that’s when I first met her,” Murray tells Madison365. “She was one of the first people that I’ve met after coming here, and we started talking, and just became really good friends.
“Being new to Madison, she was one of the people, along with the Hendersons, who helped us to get acclimated and helped us to meet so many other people. They were so welcoming to me,” she adds. “All of the AKAs were kind and welcoming people and Theresa lived that, too. She was just a special person … a very, very special person. I miss her already.”
Sanders was a former regional leader for Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc., mentoring and supporting youth leaders locally and nationally. The two friends, Murray and Sanders, founded the Top Ladies chapter in Madison. “Top Ladies was a really good organization, and I enjoyed it and I know that Theresa did, too,” Murray says.
Huntley-Cooper says she is grateful for the huge impact that Sanders, as an advisor for Top Teens, a group under the Top Ladies of Distinction, made on her daughter. Top Teens of America provides opportunities for young people’s potential and promotes their educational, social, spiritual, moral, cultural, and economic development.
“My daughter ended up being in the Top Teens group, and Theresa pushed my daughter to run and be president of that for two years. My daughter wouldn’t have done that any other way without Miss Theresa calling to ask her to be in the program … with her style … and my daughter said, ‘Yes,'” Huntley-Cooper remembers, smiling. “And then when my daughter ended up becoming an AKA, there was Theresa again, popping up to make sure that my daughter got introduced to the people that Theresa felt she needed to know and made sure she interacted with AKAs at the regional and national level.
“So that was something very beautiful I remember about Theresa,” Huntley-Cooper continues. “She also tried to make sure that all of the Top Teen kids were mentored well. She took them to conferences and she showed them how to do things the right way … she was always mentoring and supporting them, encouraging, and building their self-esteem and their confidence.”
Sanders always felt it was important to be a strong community person, as a member of the Madison Metropolitan Chapter of The Links, Inc., In addition, she served as Parent Teacher Organization president at several Madison schools, including Mendota Elementary School, Gompers Elementary School, Black Hawk Middle School, and Madison East High School. Through these roles, she consistently advocated for students of color and underrepresented youth.
Huntley-Cooper says the people of the greater Madison community could always see Sanders at community events. “She was supporting the AKAs, the [Madison Metropolitan] Links, Women in Focus… We attended so many events together,” Huntley-Cooper says. “When my daughter got married in the Dominican Republic, she and her husband were right there with us. She loved to travel, too.
“You could always count on her. She made such an impact and she did make a difference,” she adds. “She was great at networking, and there was no one who needed help that she would turn down. She was one of the founders of Men Who Cook. She mentored AKAs. She was a generous person. She was a one-of-a-kind person.”
Sanders, along with fellow AKA T. Ella Strothers, started Men Who Cook in 1994. The idea was to get men from the community together to cook delicious dishes (main dish, side dish, and dessert) for a giant group of people who would sample all of the food and vote to see who is the best. Professional judges, chefs from the community, would also vote for the best in their own separate categories. Over the years, AKAs were able raise tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships for graduating high school students with the annual Men Who Cook fundraiser.
“The thing that’s so serendipitous about Men Who Cook is that I was planning a very similar event in 1991 when I was still in California, and then to move here that same year and realize that they were going to do the very same event,” Gladson-Billings remembers. “I just couldn’t get over the fact that we both thought about the same thing. But yeah, she’s the mother of Men Who Cook in Madison.”
(Photo by Hedi Rudd)
Corinda Rainey-Moore, a longtime AKA sister of Sanders, tells Madison365 that she was more than a friend, “she was more like a big sister to me.”
“I met Theresa years ago, when I worked in mental health and she worked for the County, working with older adults. We would always connect with each other around resources for those folks in need in our community,” Rainey-Moore says. “Theresa was a gift to not just me, but this community. Theresa cared for others. She supported others, and she always shared with others. She shared her knowledge, her time, her resources, but most of all, she shared her beautiful, loving heart.
“Theresa will be missed and will always have a place in our hearts. She has left a gap that will never be filled. In leaving that gap, her legacy will live on in our hearts forever,” she adds. “Theresa, I am because you supported me, you believed in me, you loved me and served as my mentor. I could not have asked for a better mentor. Thank you for being the best you that anyone could ask for.”
Rainey-Moore’s husband, Bobby Moore, got to know Sanders very well over the years, too.
“Theresa Sanders is one of those people who leaves a deep impact on people’s lives,” Moore tells Madison365. “She was always very kind, sisterly to her sorority sisters, and always made her presence felt with warmth and laughter.
“What I will remember most is her total commitment to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, as I am to my fraternity,” Moore adds. “Although it feels like her time was short, her impact will live forever. Pink and green forever!”
A lifelong Christian, Sanders was a devoted member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church on Madison’s South Side, where she faithfully served for many years. She was especially active in the church’s Mothers’ Board, serving as president and ensuring the needs of the church were met through consistent, behind-the-scenes service.
Rev. Dr. Marcus Allen, the pastor at Mt. Zion, tells Madison365 that Sanders was “truly a mother of the church in every sense of the word.”
“As president of the Mothers Board at Mt. Zion, she carried herself with strength, wisdom, and deep love for God’s people. She had a special way of nurturing others through prayer, presence, and acts of service that often went unseen but were deeply felt,” Allen says. “Theresa had an unwavering heart for people and consistently placed the needs of others before her own. She was especially intentional about bringing together the Divine Nine to support our food pantry, ensuring families in our community had access to food and dignity in times of need. Her leadership was never about recognition; it was about responsibility.
“The impact of Mother Sanders extends far beyond Mt. Zion,” Allen continues. “Her compassion, service, and commitment to justice and care helped shape Madison into a more loving and connected community. Her legacy will continue to live on in the lives she touched and the example she set for all of us.
“She will be truly missed for her faith, fortitude and dedication to serving others.”
The visitation for Theresa Sanders will take place Saturday, Feb. 14, 11:30 a.m. at Mt Zion Baptist Church, 2019 Fisher St. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. will host a special ceremony at 12:30 p.m., followed by the funeral service at 1 p.m.
“I don’t want you to miss mentioning her sense of humor. Theresa was very funny,” Ladson-Billings says. “Anytime you were down or sad, she had a way to make you laugh. She could just crack you up.”
“Theresa was just easy. She was so easy to get along with, just easy to work with,” Murray adds. “And I think her exuberance was catching because she kind of lit fire under me, too. She lit a fire under a lot of people.”
