Obituary: DeGalynn Wade Sanders, lawyer for low-income families

As a young beauty pageant contestant, DeGalynn Wade Sanders polished an original dance and spoken-word routine that she called, simply, "The Dream Factor."

The future Miss Black Minnesota would remove layers of clothing as she twirled on stage. As each layer was peeled off, another stage of her life was revealed. Spinning, Sanders went from being a young girl devouring books to a high school cheerleader, mother and successful attorney.

Then, with a pile of garments beside her, she would strip down to a final outfit, a black robe — revealing her burning ambition to be a judge.

Over the next 24 years, Sanders would fulfill all the dreams she performed on stage, except one. After a 4 ½-year battle with cancer, Sanders died at a hospital near her home in Edina without ever achieving her lifelong ambition of serving on the bench. She was 43.

"If cancer had not gotten in the way, DeGalynn would certainly have been a judge — and a highly distinguished one," said Larry Leventhal, her father and a Twin Cities attorney. "This talented light was taken much too soon."

Sanders overcame poverty, racism and a long struggle with vision loss to become an acclaimed attorney for low-income families and a mentor to young women.

The beauty queen, who was crowned Miss Black Minnesota and named second runner-up for Miss Black USA, could have pursued a lucrative career as a corporate attorney. Instead, as a lawyer for legal aid, Sanders helped domestic violence victims escape abusive marriages, helped mothers collect child support and represented poor families being evicted from their homes.

In 2000, she appealed and won a decision before the Minnesota Court of Appeals that would affect thousands of military families in Minnesota and across the nation. The precedent-setting decision, known as Deason v. Deason, established an ex-spouse's right to military pension benefits in the event of divorce.

"Her heart was in supporting families and making sure they got their just due," said Neva Walker, a longtime friend who runs a child advocacy group in San Francisco. "She had a sense of urgency in her life."

Sanders was the youngest of three children born to a single mother on Minneapolis' North Side. As an 8-year-old, she had a paper route and would wake up at 4 a.m. most days to deliver the Minneapolis Tribune before school. She enrolled at Washburn High in south Minneapolis, where she flourished and set her sights on a legal career.

After graduating in 1997 from the University of Minnesota Law School, Sanders went to work at Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS), a St. Paul group that provides free legal help to low-income residents.

Her husband, Lance Sanders, an intellectual property manager at General Mills, recalls her staying up late at night memorizing questions before a big court hearing.

"DeGalynn walked fast and talked fast. It was as if her body knew that she had to do a lot in a very short amount of time," he said. "That's the way she was when she litigated."

In 2007, a year after the birth of her first son, Sanders launched a family law practice. At the same time, she began to battle multiple medical problems, including progressive vision loss brought on by a rare form of multiple sclerosis.

Yet few knew that Sanders spent most of the past decade legally blind. At public events, she would flash her beaming smile at anyone who approached and then turn to close friends to help her navigate the room.

"She never wanted anyone to pity her," Walker said. "She wanted your support and your prayers, but not your pity."

Last year, Sanders learned that her breast cancer, which began in 2011 and had been in remission for nearly two years, had suddenly spread to her liver and spine. She died a few weeks after making a final trip to Mexico for experimental treatments.