James Howard Sanderford, 90, died on January 7, 2026, after a brief illness. He was an honest servant leader who lived a life of integrity, humility, hard work, love of family and church and proudly served his country in the U.S. Marine Corps and his community as a state legislator.
Howard was born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi. After graduating from Mississippi State University with a degree in accounting, Sanderford served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and participated in the Beirut, Lebanon landing in 1958. He was a member of the Marine Corps League, the Military Order of World Wars, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion Post 237, and the Military Officers Association of America.
Howard spent 26 years working for IBM in Mississippi, New York and Alabama until his retirement in 1987. He founded Computer Leasing Company, Inc.
He was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1989 in a special election, and he served through 2022. Howard believed representing the citizens of Huntsville and Madison County for 34 years was the honor of a lifetime.
While in the legislature, his leadership roles included co-chair of the Joint Legislative Sunset Committee, chair of the House Boards, Agencies, and Commissions Committee, and chair of the Alabama Legislative Medal of Honor for Law Enforcement. He served on the Executive Committee of the Southern States Energy Board and represented Alabama on the Executive Board of the Southern Legislative Conference for over 30 years. As a member of the Alabama Space Authority, Howard helped organize NASA Day held at the State House each year.
Active in his community, Howard was a member of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Commission, past president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, past chair and member of the Volunteers of America of North Alabama Board, past chair of the Madison County Republican Executive Committee, past vice president of the Metropolitan YMCA Board, and past co-chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Free Enterprise Committee. Other areas of service include the United Way Corporate Giving Program, Boy Scout Creek District Finance Chairman, Alabama Management Improvement Program, Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame Board and Alabama Board of Medical Scholarship Awards.
He was an active member at First Baptist Church, Huntsville, where he served as a deacon, finance committee chair, and youth Sunday School director and teacher.
Howard is survived by his wife of 67 years, Dot; daughters, Mary Ann Delano (Chip), Peggy Sanderford Ponder (Morgan) and Betty Robinson; grandchildren, Philip Delano, John Delano (Shannon), Grace Robinson (Dillon Gilbert) and Caroline Robinson; three step-grandchildren; and a step-great-grandson.
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the James Howard Sanderford Memorial Scholarship at Mississippi State, online at https://dda.msstate.edu/give-now?f=405482 or checks made payable to the MSU Foundation, Inc. mailed to P. O. Box 6149, Mississippi State, MS 39762; First Baptist Church, 600 Governors Drive, Huntsville, AL 35801, https://www.fbchsv.org/ or Still Serving Veterans, 626 Clinton Ave W Suite 200, Huntsville, AL 35801, https://ssv.org/
Visitation will be Friday, January 30, 2026, from 3:00-5:30 pm at First Baptist Church, 600 Governors Dr., Huntsville, Alabama. A memorial service will be Saturday, January 31, 2026, at 11:30 at First Baptist.
