Dana Sanderson, 80, of San Saba, Texas, joined her Lord in Heaven on June 28, 2025. A Visitation for Dana will be held Wednesday, July 2, 2025, from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at Blaylock Funeral Home in San Saba. A funeral service will be held 2:00 p.m., Thursday, July 3, 2025 at Blaylock Funeral Home in San Saba and will be officiated by Lisa Theodosis. An interment will follow at Terry Cemetery in San Saba, Texas. Arrangements are under the direction of Blaylock Funeral Home of San Saba.
Born in Wichita Falls on September 4, 1944, just 3 months after her father, Daniel Lee Ring (known as Dan Daddy) was killed in a Conoco Refinery explosion where he worked. Dana, her older brother Larry and her young widowed Mother, Hazel (Rogers) Ring lived with her mother’s parents, John and Della Rogers until Dana was almost 2 years old. Her Mother met and married Shelby Thompson on September 1st of 1946.
Hazel and Shelby went on to have 2 additional children, Poney and Rebecca (Becky). All 4 children were raised equally and they loved each other as full brothers and sisters and still do. Dana remembered one day when she was about 8-9 years old and all 4 of the children were with their Daddy (Shelby) when they ran into an old friend of his in town. The man said, “Those older 2 are not really yours are they.” And Daddy replied, “They are mine just as much as the little ones, in fact I’ve had them longer.” When Dana was about 12 years old Shelby asked Dana and Larry to change their legal names to Thompson, which they agreed to. Dana said she was very lucky to have a man like him as her Daddy. Shelby died in 1984.
In December of 1960 Dana married “Bud” Rayner and in December of 1961 gave birth to her only child, Drew Allen Rayner II. They were later divorced. And in May of 1966 she married Robert (Bob) Bolinger. In 1968 they moved to Llano County, which is where Bob was raised. She helped raise his 2 young children, Bobby and Tom. Bob died in February of 2004 and Bobby died in 2025.
Dana enjoyed a career in banking for 33 years. Rising from a bookkeeping clerk filing checks to Vice President and Compliance Officer. She said she was fortune to work in every department in the bank and soaked it up like a sponge. But with laws and policies changing constantly one person could never learn it all. Most of all she loved the interaction with the customers. Dana retired from banking in 2005.
In December of 2005, Dana and Larry Sanderson exchanged vows and rings and have lived in San Saba most of this time. They pursued the retail pecan business early in their marriage. However, health problems began to take its toll and they sold the business and later their building. Dana was welcomed into the Sanderson family by Larry’s sons Yancey and Landon. She was at the hospital when all five of the grand children were born. And loves and has supported each one as if they were her on.
Dana has always loved music of all kinds a gift she believes which came from her Mother. Her Mother passed away in 2007.
She was preceded in death by: Her birth father: Daniel Lee Ring. Her Daddy: Poney Shelby Thompson II, Her Mother: Hazel Rogers Thompson, and all of her Grandparents.
She is survived by her husband: Larry Sanderson of San Saba; Son: Drew Allen Rayner and his wife Patty of Moss Point MS; Grandsons: Aaron Rayner and his wife Courtney of Theodore, AL and Daniel Rayner and his wife Tara of Moss Point, MS. Great–Grand Children: Madilynn and Karsyn Rayner and Ashley and Owen Rayner. Siblings: Her Brothers: Larry Thompson and Poney Thompson Ill and his wife Susie and her sister: Becky Pool all of Wichita Falls, TX. Her Sanderson children and grandchildren: Yancey Sanderson and his wife Jennifer, and their children: Taylor and Payton of Gatesville, Texas and Landon Sanderson and his wife Laurie, their children: Luke, Landry and Libby of Goldthwaite, Texas. Seven nieces and one nephew.
Pallbearers: Yancey Sanderson, Landin Sanderson, Mike Shahan, Jeff Hopf, David Willmann, and Larry Sanderson.
Online condolences can be made at www.blaylockfuneralhome.com
