Marion Sanders bio
Marion Sanders was born on December 13, 1976, in Tupelo, Mississippi to Kurt and Lila Sanders. Kurt worked in construction and Lila was a homemaker. The Sanders family lived on a small lot just outside Tupelo in a small but clean house.
Life was good in the Sanders household although the family often felt the lack of money. Marion never went without food or other necessities, but she was aware that her family didn't take vacations to the beach like her friends did. But the Sanders family still managed to have fun in their own fashion.
When other families went to the beach, Kurt built Marion a small gingerbread house in the backyard using scrap pieces of wood and siding from his construction sites. Her mother helped her decorate it with castoff furniture, and the family had a housewarming party.
When school started in the fall, and the other kids talked about building sand castles during their summer vacations, Marion told them she'd taken possession of her new house. The teacher said she wasn't aware the family had moved. Marion assured her they hadn't, but it was time she had a place of her own.
Marion attended the University of Mississippi, where she majored in business and focused on banking and finance. While in school, she dated a pharmacy major from Memphis named Dale Johnson. The couple married shortly after graduation and settled in Germantown, Tennessee, just outside Memphis. Dale started a lucrative job at a large pharmacy, and Marion worked at a major bank in town.
Within six months, the marriage began to sour. Dale was inattentive to Marion most of the time and short-tempered in the rare times he did pay any attention to her. A month after their second wedding anniversary, Marion filed for divorce and moved out.
She had always enjoyed Oxford while in school and decided to move back there. She accepted an entry-level position at a local bank and began saving. As bad as the relationship with Dale had been, Marion still enjoyed the money and lifestyle that his job as a pharmacist had afforded them. Marion worked her way up through the ranks at the bank.
She had reached the position of loan officer at the Bank of Mississippi and was aiming for a vice president title when she met Charles Tatum, a local policeman who consulted on a new security system the bank was installing. Marion thought the idea of dating a cop was exciting and intriguing, and she asked Charles to lunch.
Charles and Marion had fun together, but after a few months, she began to chafe at the life of a police officer. She didn't like the hours he worked or the low pay the job offered. She often got mad at Charles when he would cancel one of their dates. But as irritated as she was, she did really care greatly for Charles and was disturbed by rumors he was going to break up with her.
