Monday, Jan. 6, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Elmer T. "Hefty" Sanderson, four-time sheriff of Mineral County, would do anything to help a friend, but had no qualms about punching out an enemy.
That's how Jack McCloskey, retired veteran reporter for the Mineral County Independent News, remembered the longtime Hawthorne and Silver Peak resident.
"He was a character who had a wide range to his personality," said McClosky, who worked for the weekly Independent News from 1933-94.
"Hefty was a big, easy-going, friendly Montanan in a cowboy hat. But get on his bad side, and you'd better stay out of his way."
Sanderson, a 58-year Nevada resident, died Dec. 30 following a brief illness at Hawthorne's Mount Grant General Hospital. He was 80.
"I saw him just recently at Maggie's (a Hawthorne coffee hangout), and he didn't look too well," McCloskey said, recalling that Sanderson had his share of tough times that took their toll.
Four times between 1958 and '78 Sanderson was elected sheriff, but three times he lost re-election bids because of high-profile incidents.
"Just before one election, this restaurant owner mouthed off to Hefty and he knocked him out. As a result, Hefty got voted out," McCloskey said.
"Other times, Hefty had some problems with his deputies. For a while, it was a merry-go-round for the office between him and his deputies. Once, he lost to a former deputy, who voters felt didn't do any better a job than Hefty, so they voted Hefty back in at the next election."
In 1982, Sanderson moved to Silver Peak where he opened the Black Mammoth Bar, Restaurant and Motel. The longtime equipment operator for area mines did well as a restaurateur until losing the eatery in a divorce and moving back to Hawthorne in 1989.
Born Feb. 21, 1916, in New Castle, Wyo., to Henry Clay Sanderson and Winnie (nee Quick) Sanderson, Hefty was the eldest of seven children.
He and his brother Joe moved to Silver Peak in 1939, where they went to work at the Mary Mine. They also worked for a while in Lee Vining, Calif., on the city of Los Angeles water tunnels.
Hefty moved to Hawthorne in 1941 and was an Army veteran of World War II.
Services were Saturday in Hawthorne. Burial was in Lee Vining.
Sanderson is survived by three sons, Charles "Sandy" Sanderson of Crowley Lake, Calif., Patrick Sanderson of Carson City, and Briscoe Sanderson of Lee Vining; a brother, Hap Sanderson of The Dalles, Ore.; a sister, Helen Rodman of Redmond, Ore.; two granddaughters, Kelly Wright and Amber Woodruff; and several nieces and nephews.
Sanderson was preceded in death by brothers Joe and Bill and sisters Mickie and Jammie.
REMEMBRANCE: The family requests that mourners write their favorite stories about Hefty Sanderson and mail them to Sandy Sanderson, Route 1, Box 89, Crowley Lake, CA 93546.
archive
