Robert Saunders
December 11, 1923 — August 27, 2014
Robert Leroy Saunders (SMSgt, AF Retired) was born in Meridian, Mississippi on December 11, 1923, to Robert L. Saunders and Ruby Fleming Saunders. He grew up on his stepfather's farm in Waynesboro, Mississippi, riding horses and tending cattle. With the onset of WWII, he worked as a welder at Pasgagoula Shipyard in Mississippi. In 1945 he joined the Army and after basic training was sent to Germany with the Army of Occupation. There he met his wife of 68 years, Helen (Brecheisen) from Garnett, Kansas who was working as a civil service secretary. They married in Schlangenbad, Germany and their two oldest sons, Dr. Robert L. Saunders, Jr. (Fulshear, Texas) and J. Michael Saunders (Yakima, Washington) were born there. While in Germany the Air Force had come into being and Robert transferred to that branch of service in 1948. They were then transferred to Craig AFB, Alabama where their youngest son, Gregory W. Saunders (Schertz, Texas) was born. Other stations included Greenville, Mississippi; Prestwick, Scotland; Topeka, Kansas; Omaha, Nebraska and finally, Randolph AFB from where he retired after 24 years of honorable service. At the end of his military career, he worked computerizing personnel records and he went on several TDY trips to assist other bases with the task. After he retired, he engaged in a number of business ventures before settling on real estate as a second career choice. He sold new homes for a number of years and then served as the broker for the family business, Saunders Realty. Robert was a hard worker and lived a healthy, productive life until he was afflicted with Parkinson's Disease. Besides his wife, 3 sons and daughters-in-law (Cynthia, Rose and Renee), he also leaves five grandchildren: Brooke, Christian, Amy, Tory and Sonya; and six great grandchildren: Carly, Rory, Sawyer, Caleb, Miles, and Julia; a sister, Dorothy Gunnels of Gulfport, Mississippi and a brother, Donald Stagg, of Biloxi, Mississippi. Robert's ashes will be interred at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery on September 19th at 11:15 a.m. and a Memorial Service will be held at the Universal City United Methodist Church on September 20, 2014 at 10:00AM. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the church or to the American Parkinson Disease Association, 8300 Floyd Curl Drive - MSC 7883, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900.
.
