News Detail
Dave Sanders: The Man Behind the Scenes
Dave Sanders has spent the last 25 years working behind the scenes to make Notre Dame shine day in and day out. He is set to retire this summer.
When you ask those that have worked with Sanders to describe him, you hear the same phrases over and over: reliable; takes pride in his work; goes above and beyond; trustworthy.
“He will be hard to replace,” says Notre Dame Director of Maintenance Scott Wilson.
Sanders’ role at Notre Dame is a night janitor and floor care expert.
Sanders, who is a 1979 graduate of Notre Dame, said his late sister Jean Sanders Hermsdorfer (’77) nudged him to inquire about the position 25 years ago.
“My sister, Jean, was a secretary at the time, and she told me they (Notre Dame) had an opening,” said Sanders. “The head of maintenance was leaving and she thought that would be a good job for me. I didn’t think I was qualified to be the head of maintenance, so they promoted someone else to that position. I took this job and have been here ever since.”
Sanders says his nights usually begin around 10 or 10:30 p.m. He cleans the common areas, locker rooms, gymnasium, vacuums rugs, empties trash cans and cleans windows. When there are inside sporting events, he puts away all the chairs after games, takes down the bleachers and hand rails, and makes sure the gym is ready for the next day, which, as Wilson explained, is quite a bit of extra work for Sanders.
“As the person who often shuts off the gym lights after a major event,” said Athletic Director Jeff Graviett, “I am still amazed to walk in the next morning and find the place looking as if nothing had happened the night before. Dave truly loves this school, and that pride is evident in everything he touches.”
“I’ll always remember coming back late from games and yelling, ‘Dave, I’m in the building!’ so we didn’t scare each other,” said Principal Paul Unterreiner. “No matter how late it was, he would ask how we did, win or lose. That wasn’t his job, that is just who he is. He cares.”
Wilson says that Sanders acts as the eyes and ears of Notre Dame at night.
“He has taken it upon himself to walk around the entire campus to make sure all doors are secured, garages locked, no suspicious vehicles or persons on the campus, and every exterior light burning,” said Wilson. “I depend on him to notify me in case of any problems that may happen when severe weather rolls in. He has prevented many water leak problems from storms; that if they hadn't been found that night would have caused significant water damage if left until the start of school in the morning.”
Sanders is particularly known for his care of the school’s floors; even helping create a 5-year rotating summer floor waxing plan.
“During the summer months the maintenance staff will strip down the floors and re-wax them,” said President Tim Garner. “Dave has a plan and a method for how he likes to systematically approach each classroom and hallway, so that by the time the next school year rolls around the floors look brand new.”
Notre Dame Memories
As a 1979 Notre Dame graduate, and employee for the past 25 years, Sanders has seen a lot change over the years.
“One of the biggest changes is the faculty members,” he says. “When I started there were quite a few teachers I had in school. New people have left and new people have come in, and I’ve been here through five or six heads of maintenance. Brother David leaving was also a big change for the school.”
He says he’ll miss the teachers he’s gotten to know at Notre Dame through fun gatherings like the teacher’s trivia night. He also said it was fun to get to know the teachers he had as a teenager at an adult level.
“Jerry Grim and Jim Glastetter were a blast when you got to know them as adults,” he says. “Being in the same room as those two, and Wayne Nenninger and Brad Wittenborn, was hilarious.”
He laughed when asked about his favorite memory from working at Notre Dame.
“Some kids had removed a tall, inflatable Keebler Elf from a store in Jackson, and had brought it to the school and inflated it outside the gymnasium,” he remembered. “I saw it and could’ve taken it down, but I had an internal debate about what I should do, and decided to keep it up so all the kids could see it before school. I remember Jerry Grim and Brad Wittenborn staring at it on the sidewalk just looking up.”
Sanders’ Legacy
Wilson says he will miss Sanders’ work ethic and his concern for how well the entire campus looks. Unterreiner echoes that and says Sanders represents a quiet servant leader whose consistent work helps hold a school together.
Garner said, “As Dave retires, he leaves a high bar set for whomever may follow him. He has shown for 25 years that you can have a job that you take ownership and pride in and do it to the very best of your ability. The result being so that those that walk through those doors know that they are in a special place; know that they are at Notre Dame.”
It’s evident that Sanders takes great pride in his work.
“I kind of looked at it like what I would want the school to be if I had children here,” he says. “The parents have an expectation about how the school should be kept, and if I had a son or daughter how I would want the building to be kept.”
Sanders’ last day is scheduled for the end of July, but in true Dave form, he’s not quitting until the job is complete.
“I plan to retire on my birthday on July 30…if the floors are done.”
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