Joseph Eugene Sanders, 78, died August 23, 2021 in Westminster Village Assisted Living. He was born January 21, 1943 to Ruth Elizabeth Walling and Forester Eugene Sanders of Vermilion, Illinois. The Edgar County pioneer family lived in the county for generations and farmed centennial farms. His father Gene was an engineer, a Justice of the Peace, and a farmer; Ruth was a self-employed business woman.

A visitation will be held from 1:00 p.m. -2:00 p.m. (CDT) on Friday August 27, 2021 at Stewart and Carroll Funeral Home in Paris, Illinois. A funeral service will follow at 2:00 p.m. (CDT) at the funeral home with burial in Vermilion Cemetery in Vermilion, Illinois.

Mr. Sanders was educated at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana and studied library science at Rosary College (Dominican University), River Forest, Illinois and at Saint Mary of the Woods, Terre Haute, Indiana. He spent seven months as an intern working with Diana Vreeland at the Costume Institute in New York City. He worked as a librarian at Paris, Illinois High School, the Illinois State Library in Springfield, Illinois, and at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. Over the years he mentored and tutored many young men.

He lectured widely throughout the country on antiques, quilts, textile conservation, and gardens. Active in the Mid-America Folklore Society he authored lead articles for its journal and spoke at conferences including those held at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and Mountain Home, Arkansas. He lectured at the Governor's Palace/Tyron Palace in New Bern, North Carolina, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, and was the 1976 bicentennial keynote speaker at the Lincoln Tomb in Springfield, Illinois. For decades he participated in the Annual Garden Symposia in Williamsburg, Virginia. For many years, he gave lectures and tours at the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, Palm Beach, Florida.

Closer to home, Mr. Sanders was the keynote speaker for the 25th and 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Alliance of the Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana. At the Swope Art Museum he also conducted workshops, tours and undertook fund raising. At the Indianapolis Museum of Art he presented workshops and assisted with fund raising. He founded the Edgar County, Illinois Historical Society and served as its first President.

Religion was a huge force in his life and for thirty years he was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Paris, Illinois where he ushered. St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Terre Haute, Indiana was his final church home. For many years he participated in workshops at Saint Mary of the Woods in Terre Haute, Indiana. Since 2019 he resided at Westminster Village, Terre Haute, Indiana.

Memorials may be made to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church.

For more information and online condolences please go to www.stewartandcarrollfuneralhome.com