HARVEST - If you grew up drinking Meadow Gold milk, you can thank Will Sanderson for your strong bones and teeth.

Sanderson, who died Wednesday at age 89, ran one of Madison County's largest dairy farms. At its peak, the Yarbrough Road farm churned out about 500 gallons of fresh milk every two days, most of which was sold to the Meadow Gold Dairy on Clinton Avenue.

Farming was in "Mr. Will's" blood. Ancestor James Sander­son settled in Harvest in 1808 and began working the rolling, fertile land on the north side of Capshaw Mountain.

By the time Sanderson grad­uated from high school in 1933, the family farm had grown to about 500 acres.

He avoided military service during World War II because his widowed mother needed him to stay home and keep the farm running. His brother Cecil was already in the Army; another brother, T. L., had lost an arm in a cotton-gin accident.

Sanderson helped the war effort by making mustard gas at a munitions plant on Redstone Arsenal. He was accidentally exposed to the deadly stuff but survived thanks to a remedy suggested by a Huntsville doc­tor.

Sanderson met the love of his life, Glenn Rowe, during the Great Depression. They liked each other instantly, but dating was tough because Sanderson did not own a car.

In 1937, Sanderson and his future wife traveled separately to Florida to visit relatives. He urged her to kiss another man during the trip, so she would be absolutely sure Sanderson was The One.

He was, of course, and they married Nov. 18, 1937. They would have celebrated their 68th anniversary next Friday.

Sanderson's work ethic was legendary. He woke up early - 4:30 am. - to milk his large herd, tend the cotton and do other chores.

Mother Nature granted him an occasional break: When it rained and farm life ground to a halt, Sanderson would head to Ennis' Grocery in downtown Harvest to play Rook.

Sanderson, whose trade­mark was a beige, wide- brimmed Stetson hat, loved politics. He ran for the Madison County Commission, the coun­ty school board and the state Legislature, losing narrowly each time; because, family members said, he was better known in rural areas than the city.

One of Sanderson's cam­paign ideas, a regional high school for western Madison County, carne to pass in 1958 when Sparkman High School opened. He later became a trustee at the school, and all four Sanderson children - Ann, Leigh, Ruth and Woody, a prominent Huntsville attorney - graduated from there.

Like many men of his gener­ation, Sanderson threw himself into community service. He stayed up all night cooking pigs for fundraisers. He played a "jilted wife" in a Womanless Wedding to benefit Harvest School. Family members joke that he headed every committee at Ford's Chapel United Methodist Church except one: the United Methodist Women.

A glass-half-full guy, Sanderson was a perfect fit for the Optimist Club. In 1993, he oversaw the sale of the club-owned Optimist Park on Oakwood Avenue to the city.

The $760,000 the club earned from the sale launched a foundation that's still helping youth programs.

"His life was an example of American citizenship at its best," said Dr. Sidney Sandridge, a fellow Optimist Club member who will speak at Sanderson's funeral today.

"He would do for the community in whatever way," added son Leigh Sanderson, "and gave us a great example."

A lifelong Democrat, Sanderson was invited to share the stage with President John F. Kennedy during Kennedy's May 1963 visit to Muscle Shoals. A framed black-and­white photo shows Sanderson, wearing dark sunglasses, seated three rows behind JFK.

Sanderson had "a right historic life," his wife said Thursday.