Sanford 50th

SANFORD 50th

Tom and Bonnie Sanford celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with family and friends on July 3, 2016 at their home church in Sequim, Wash. Their reception was themed “Around the World in 80 Days.”

Thomas L. Sanford met Bonnie J. Fike at Andrews University where Tom was studying theology and Bonnie elementary education. They married two years later in South Bend, Indiana, on July 3, 1966. 

They took a call to pastor in Lewistown, Mont., before returning to Andrews for seminary where their first child, Kelly, was born. Back in Montana following seminary studies, the couple pastored the Choteau/Shelby/Havre district, starting a new church school in both Shelby and Havre, followed by a brief time in Ronan.

The Oregon Conference called Tom to pastor the Shady Point Church where their son, Craig, was born and Bonnie continued teaching. This time in Southern Oregon was followed by another four years of pastoring in Hood River where Tom served on the Juvenile Services Commission and Bonnie piloted the Jail Alternative Measure Program for delinquent teens.

It was while in Hood River the couple followed the Lord’s leading to found Project Patch. What started out of a small office in Hood River has now grown in scope and scale, impacting thousands of teens and families over the past 32 years.

Tom and Bonnie are retired in Sequim, Wash., but still travel and enjoy spending time with their grandchildren. The Sanford family includes Kelly and Chuck Hagele; Craig and Eniko (Molnar) Sanford all of Vancouver, Wash.; along with five grandchildren.