Reverend Sanders “Sam” Roland East, 90, died April 10, 2022 due to complications from C.O.P.D. Born May 21, 1931, in Walnut Grove, GA, to Pleemon Jackson and Mary Mozelle Barton East, Sanders started preaching in Walton and Oconee Counties while in high school. After graduating Monroe High School, where he played football, he went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree of Religious Studies from Vanderbilt University. Upon graduation, Sanders was ordained with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Sanders served as a Disciples of Christ rector for over 12 years in Owensboro, Kentucky and Troy and Buffalo, New York. He moved with his family to Marietta, Georgia in 1967 and started East Roofing Company with his brother Raymond Doyle East. In 1979, Sanders purchased the Barnesville Motel in Barnesville, Georgia. Eventually, he moved to Barnesville and supported many causes and needy individuals in the community. In 1995, he acquired a farm in Brooks, Georgia, where he raised cattle.
He is survived by his brother Raymond Doyle East of Marietta; his ex-wife Nancy McKinley East of Marietta; his four children Marie East Rosner of Jupiter Inlet, FL; Sanders Roland East, Jr., of Ridgeway, CO; John Raymond McKinley East of Villa Rica, GA; and Elyssa Cleo East (formerly Nancy Elizabeth) and her husband Yulun Wang of New York, NY; three grandchildren Cori McKinley East of Portland, OR; Jesse Ryan East of Ridgway, CO; and Oliver Li-wen Whitfield Wang of New York, NY; and Susan Frady and Marie Presley of Barnesville, GA.
Funeral services will be held at Jackson Presbyterian Church in Jackson, GA on April 21 at 1:00 p.m. and April 22 at Corinth Christian Church in Loganville, GA at 2:30 p.m. A viewing will precede the Corinth service starting at 1:00 p.m.
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