Bret was born in Jefferson City, MO to John Robert and Karen Sue Schmidt Sander, who survive at the home. Other survivors include one sister, Lisa C. Sander, Jefferson City; and two grandmothers, Bernadine Sander, Moberly; and Lorine Schmidt, Breese, Illinois. He was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church; Mid-America TEC; served as statistician of the Jefferson City High School varsity basketball team during his junior and senior years; and was an Eagle Scout with Troop 6 of the Boy Scouts of America at Immaculate Conception parish. Memorials are suggested to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, 1900 N. Providence Road, Columbia, MO 65201. He was a 2002 graduate of Jefferson City High School where he was a member of the National Honor Society; and a 2002 graduate of State Fair Community College where he received an Associate of Science degree in Computer Science with Highest Honors. He was employed as a web programmer with the Missouri Department of Social Services.