Jerilyn Farrar Sanderson

Jerilyn Farrar Sanderson, a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away peacefully on January 28, 2024, surrounded by her family. She was 74.

Born September 16, 1949, in Joplin, Missouri, Jerilyn developed an early love of music, taking after her father, who was a jazz trumpet player. She earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Music Education at Missouri Southern State College (1971) and the University of Northern Colorado (1973). She was an accomplished cellist and pianist, with a knack for ragtime. After teaching in Virginia, she took an unexpected opening as a strings teacher in East Baton Rouge Parish in 1978. The timing was God’s because she met the love of her life—her husband of 44 years, Darryl—on her first Wednesday night at church. In 1979, they married on a Friday the 13th because Jerilyn wanted to buck superstition.

Jerilyn left her teaching career in 1982 to be a stay-at-home mother: a job she said defined her identity and was the most precious of her life. Blessed with eight grandchildren, she was most recently known as “Nannie” and “Mote.” She also “adopted” a great many other children: children of friends, neighbors, church members, and many others. She was passionate about learning their interests and making each one feel special. At South Baton Rouge Church of Christ, where Jerilyn was a faithful member for 33 years, she poured her heart into running the children’s toy market for Sunday school.

Jerilyn was renowned for her skills as a seamstress and third-generation pie-baker; wedding gowns and veils were her greatest triumphs, and no one could beat her perfect pie crust. Music stayed with her, as she taught private cello lessons and served as an EBRP talent evaluator until late last year. She also loved gardening, flowers, collecting dolls and Beanie Babies, snuggling with her cat, Muffin, and traveling with Darryl.

Jerilyn is survived by her husband, Darryl Sanderson; her children, Meredith Nesbitt (David), Stefanie Harris (Tommy), and Christopher Sanderson (Jacqueline); and her eight grandchildren, Weston, Judah, Silas, Eli, Anthony, Joshua, Ender, and Esther. She is preceded in death by her parents, Gerald and Lena Farrar.

Visitation and services will be held at South Baton Rouge Church of Christ, 8725 Jefferson Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA. Visitation will be on Thursday, February 1, from 5-8 pm. Visitation will resume on Friday, February 2, at 12:00 pm, followed by a service at 1:00 pm. Burial will follow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory.

Memorial donations may be made to her church’s summer camp, Encounter, at sbrcc.org/encounter-sanderson-memorial.

Her family would like to express deep gratitude to the ICU staff at Baton Rouge General-Bluebonnet for the compassionate care she received at the end of her life.