Poncernela Dynise Sanford

Published 4:31 pm Thursday, February 20, 2025

Miss Poncernela “Ponci” Dynise Sanford, 68, of Riverside, CA, passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 26, 2025, in Riverside after a brief illness. 

Prior to leaving California, a visitation was held for Miss Sanford on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at Rubidoux Mortuary in Jurupa Valley.  Funeral services were held on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, at St. Paul Primitive Baptist Church in Attapulgus, GA, officiated by Elder Lee E. Harris, Poncernela’s cousin and pastor of Mt. Olive Primitive Baptist Church, Jacksonville, FL.  Interment followed at Elisha and Mary Harris Garden of Peace Cemetery, Attapulgus-Faceville Road in Attapulgus. Her first cousins served as honorary pallbearers alongside Collins Family Mortuary.

Poncernela was born on Sunday, August 26, 1956, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Denver, CO, to United States Air Force (USAF) Airman Third Class Joseph Sanford and Burnethel Benita “BB” (nee Gaines) Sanford.  She graduated from Torrejón High School, Madrid, Spain, and earned her cosmetology degree from Riverside City College.  Miss Sanford later served as a teacher’s aide at Lillian E. Williams Elementary School in Attapulgus, GA, and taught Sunday School and Children’s Church in every church that she held membership, including Trinity Baptist Church, Moreno Valley, CA, where she and her parents attended until their passing.  Ponci enjoyed many interests and hobbies—chiefly arts and crafts, reading, shopping, and traveling around the world.

Remaining to cherish Poncernela’s memory are her devoted sister, Dr. Respondia Tynise Sanford Poole of Las Vegas, NV; paternal aunt Mrs. Millie Fielder of Tampa, FL; maternal aunts Mrs. Annie Grace McNeal of Attapulgus, GA, and Mrs. Mary Ellen Kimbrough of Tuskegee, AL; a host of extended family members and friends; and her “military aunt” Mrs. Genevieve Davis of Hampton, VA.

Miss Sanford was preceded in death by her beloved parents, USAF SSgt. Joseph and Burnethel Sanford; paternal grandparents Mr. Henry Sanford (Thomasville, GA) and Mrs. Carrie Mae Curry (Philadelphia, PA); maternal grandparents Mr. Arzie and Mrs. Lucy Gaines (Bainbridge, GA) and Mrs. Corene Ballard Wilkins (Attapulgus, GA); and her “military aunts” Mrs. Mattie Grant (Waldorf, MD) and Mrs. Annie Delois Baker (Riverside, CA).