David Saunders

David Saunders, age 69, of Marion departed this life on August 4, 2001 at 7:45 P.M. at his residence. The son of John David and Orena Glick Saunders, he was born in Danville, IL on May 26, 1932, but spent his formative years in Texas and considered himself a son of the Lone Star State. He was the grandson of the late W.E. and Belle Glick and B.A. and Adria Saunders of Paris, IL and was a graduate of Paris High School and of Southern Illinois University. He is survived by his wife Helen Ruth Saunders of Marion: son Benjamin Andrew Saunders, and daughter and son-in-law Cheyrl and Nathan Hines, all of Cedar Rapids, IA; son and daughter-in-law Thomas and Laura Neal of Knightdale, NC; seven grandchildren; and stepson Byron Marlow of Mt. Vernon. His parents and infant son, John David Saunders II, preceded him in death. Saunders was bitten by the newspaper bug at the age of nine when he got a job weeping out the offices and shop of the Texas City Sun and hawking papers on the street. His first opportunity to write came at the age of 14 for the Compton (CA) Journal, where he was an unpaid teenage activity reporter. Saunders was editor of the Carterville Herald and The Menard Time and had been a reporter for the Troy Tribune and served as stringer for the Southern Illinoisan and Associated Press. He later worked at News Service at Southern Illinois University, from whence he retired in 1993 as Director of Enrollment Services for the College of Technical Careers. He was inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame and declared a Master Editor by the Southern Illinois University School of Journalism in 1999. He was a member of Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Southern Illinois Editorial Association, which he served as treasurer, and of various other professional and philanthropic organizations, including the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels and Confederate Memorial Literary Society. He served in both the California 40th and Illinois 44th Divisions of the National Guard and the US Army Signal Corps. Friends are invited to celebrate his life at visitation on Tuesday evening from 5-8:30 P.M. at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Marion where he was an active member, having served as sacristan and assisting minister. Enemies are welcome to come and gloat. Refreshments will be served. Funeral services will be conducted by Pastor Marlin Otte at the church on Wednesday at 10:30 A.M. followed by interment at Willowrest Cemetery in Carterville. Memorials are suggested to the sacristy fund of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church or the American Lung Association. Saunders believed that a newspaperman who had written so many obituaries for others should be able to write his own and say good things about himself ---- so he did. -30_