Marlin Jones Phythyon Sanders

Marlin Jones Phythyon Sanders passed away peacefully on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at Clare Bridge, Brookdale Green Hills, in Nashville, Tennessee. She was born on November 25, 1932, in Birmingham, Alabama, the only child of Marlin and Neal O. Jones. Her family moved from Birmingham to Nashville, where she graduated from the Ward Belmont School in 1949. She went to Vanderbilt University, pledged Kappa Delta, and graduated in 1953 with a degree in Sociology. She earned a Master’s degree in Speech Pathology and went to work at the Bill Wilkerson Center in Nashville. She was introduced to Dr. James Martin Phythyon while on a date at Ireland’s, and they married in July of 1956. They had three daughters, Mary Neal Meador (Clifton), Elizabeth Donner, and Sarah Miller (James), all of whom survive.

Marlin lived an extraordinary life with an exceptional level of energy. Once “the girls” were all in school, she took up the demanding craft of growing and drying flowers. She began her career as an entrepreneur at craft fairs, where she successfully sold her arrangements. After a few years, she bought a walk-in cooler, had it installed in the garage, and went into the fresh flower arrangement business, concentrating on parties and weddings. This culminated in a retail business, The Cottage Garden, on Bandywood Drive in Green Hills. The store included gifts and antiques as well as flowers. She continued to concentrate on parties and weddings, and her business flourished. She and Jim made annual trips to England so she could study floral arrangement with experts, including Constance Spry.

After Jim retired, she sold the shop. She taught flower arrangement at Watkins Institute and gave workshops in the community, even as she continued to work on events. After Jim’s death in 2002, she met and was married to the Right Reverend William E. Sanders, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee, in 2005. Marlin and Bill had a wonderful life together, and she adored his children, Kathryn Tompkins (Thomas), Beth Eckert (Robert), Laura Holzman (Michael), Evan Sanders (Jennifer), and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. After his death in 2021, she moved into assisted living, where she passed away peacefully. In addition to her daughters, she is survived by her beloved grandchildren James and Wilson Meador, Walter Donner, and Harris and Reed Miller. She was preceded in death by her grandson, John Henry Donner, Jr.

A celebration of Marlin’s remarkable life will be held at a later date.

Arrangements in the care of Compassion Funeral & Cremation Services, Nashville, TN (615) 857-9955. We proudly remain locally owned & operated.