DETROIT, Michigan —Ulylessie Sanders, 69, formerly of Water Valley, died Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015, at John D. Vingell VA Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan. Funeral services will be held on Friday at 11 a.m. at Greater Sanders Chapel M.B. Church with Pastor Mitchell Steen officiating. Burial will be in Coffeeville City Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with family hour from 5-7 p.m. at Hodges Funeral Homes, which is in charge of arrangements.

A 1965 graduate of Davidson High School, he was the retired owner of Sanders Bar-b-que and Soul Food in Detroit. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he was a member of Local VFW Post 54 and member of Meditation Baptist Church in Detroit.

He is survived by his wife, Thelma Sanders of Detroit; daughters, Michelle Sanders and Tracy Sanders, both of Detroit; brothers, Cleve O. Sanders of Oak Park, Michigan and Robert Sanders of Toms River, New Jersey; sisters, Martha Sanders Jenkins of Water Valley, Dorothy Sanders Thompson of Jackson and Tallsha Sanders of Norfolk, Virginia.