Robert Saunders

Marriage of Laura Adaline Mapes to Robert Austin Saunders
The Ithaca Journal, Nov 25 1938, P. 4

  "Mrs. Margaret S. Mapes of Forest Home announces the marriage of her daughter, Laura Adaline, to Robert Austin Saunders, formerly of Albany, at 11 a, m. Wednesday, Nov. 23. The Rev. Roy S. Smyres of Horseheads, former pastor of Forest Home Chapel, officiated at the service which took place at the home of the bride in the presence of the immediate family. The house was attractively decorated with white and yellow chrysanthemums. Marion Walter of New Bloomfield, Pa., played "At Dawning," "Oh, Promise Me," and "I Love You Truly" as trumpet solos.
  The bride wore burgundy velvet with a corsage of gardenias. She was attended by her sister, Miss Ann M. Mapes of New Bloomfield, Who wore teal blue with a corsage of cream-colored rosebuds. Dr. Ralph A. Maxwell of East Greenwich was best man.
  After a wedding luncheon the couple left on a short trip to Washington, D. C., and other points south.
  The bride was graduated from Ithaca High School and has been employed for a number of years in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Cornell. Mr. Saunders was graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell in 1936. He is now employed by the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation.
  Among those present were Dr. Maxwell and Mrs. Maxwell of East Greenwich, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene B. Atwater and daughter, Catherine, of South Lansing. Miss Ann M. Mapes and Mr. Walter of New Bloomfield, Pa., Mr. and Mrs. Albert A. Warren and family of Hereford, Md., and the Rev. Mr. Smyres, Mrs. Smyres and daughter, Ruth Emily, of Horseheads."

Obituary for Robert A. Saunders
The State Journal-Register [Springfield, Illinois], Wed Aug 22 2007, P. 9, Col. 5, with photo

"SPRINGFIELD - Robert Austin Saunders of Springfield, formerly of Jacksonville [IL], passed away Monday, Aug. 20, 2007, at St. John's Hospital.
  He was born Robert Warren Austin on Aug. 11, 1913, in Middle Falls, N.Y., to Cora Davenport and LeRoy Austin. His mother died in 1915 and he became the son of Ethel Clark and Leland Saunders of Argyle, N.Y. He married Laura Adaline Mapes in Ithaca, N.Y., on Nov. 23, 1938; she preceded him in death Sept. 21, 1990. He married Mary E. Yeck in Jacksonville on Dec. 14, 1996; she survives.
  Also surviving are three children, Ronald M. (wife, Cynthia) Saunders of Oak Park, Pamela Saunders of Spokane, Wash., and Penny (husband, Harry) Hall of Jacksonville; eight grandchildren, Brett (husband, Jeffery Fadigan) of Philadelphia, Dyan (husband, Sean) McCarthy of Las Vegas, Dr. Yvonne Saunders of Las Vegas, Stacy (husband, Joseph Mitzenmacher) of Maywood, Marnie Olsen of Bothell, Wash., Megan (husband, Richard) Borgwardt of Evanston, Jason (Angie Dunfee) Hall of Springfield and Matthew (wife, Lisa) Hall of Indianapolis; five great-grandchildren; brothers, Merrill Saunders of Greenwich, N.Y., James Saunders of Chester, Texas, and John Saunders of Argyle, N.Y.; sisters, Minnie Minshall of Fort Edward, N.Y., and Bernice Barbur, Luella Smith and Rebecca Smith, all of Greenwich, N.Y.; and several nieces and nephews.
  He was preceded in death by brothers, Leland Saunders Jr., Donald Saunders, Cyril Saunders, Merritt Austin, Earl Austin, Raymond Austin and Clifford Austin.
  Mr. Saunders graduated from Greenwich (N.Y.) High School in 1931 and from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., in 1936. He was employed for several years, first as a deputy collector of Internal Revenue, then as chief tax accountant for Cooperative GLF Exchange Inc. The majority of his career was in fundraising and development, beginning in 1956 as associate director of development at Cornell University, followed by development officer at St. Luke's Hospital in Milwaukee, director of development at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, director of development and legacies at American Cancer Society in New York City, director of development at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, and director of development at St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Mo., from which he retired in 1978. He achieved the rank of fellow in the National Association for Hospital Development.
  During his younger years, he was active as a lay minister in the Trumansburg (N.Y.) Methodist Church; and president of a school board, rotary club and a community council. He was a Mason for decades.
  Relocating to Jacksonville in 1985, he volunteered for many organizations, including the Board of Prairie Council on Aging, escort for the Senior Bus, Jacksonville Chapter AARP, Advisory Council Board for Project Life Area Agency on Aging, Springfield, and was an active member of Grace Methodist Church for many years. In 1995, he received the Hocking Memorial Senior Citizen Volunteer award. He won medals competing in the Illinois Senior Olympics for several years, and has entertained many playing his harmonica during his lifetime.
  Following cremation, his remains will rest in his native New York state."