Saunders, Irene
December 24, 2008 Irene Saunders long time Carmel resident, died on Sunday, December 21, 2008 in her home. Mary Irene Stewart was born in Lake Butler, FL in 1907 to the late Henry and Ada Stewart. She graduated from Bradenton High School in Bradenton, FL in 1925 and from Florida State College for Women in Tallahassee in 1929. Irene married Warren Saunders on June 24, 1934, in Bradenton, a union which lasted nearly seventy years. The couple moved to Indiana in 1952, following his ordination as a pastor, and together they served Methodist churches in Richmond, Leesburg and Goshen before moving to Carmel United Methodist Church in 1964. They retired in Carmel in 1982. After college, she served for ten years as secretary to the manager of Peninsula Telephone Company in Bradenton. During WWII the couple moved many times due to her husband's military service. After he enrolled at Emory University in 1947, she worked as secretary to the head of the medical service at a VA hospital in Atlanta, and then served as secretary to Atlanta physician James Paulin, the doctor who signed President Roosevelt's death certificate. Following their move to Indiana, Irene devoted her energies to church, community and family. Active in United Methodist Women, she was also a member of PEO sorority, the Entre Nous Club, and the Carmel Symphony guild. She also served on the board of the Lucille Raines Residence and taught the Fidelis Sunday School class at Carmel UMC for many years. A devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, Irene was also a wonderful cook and a gracious hostess who enjoyed entertaining. Travel was another passion. The couple traveled widely both in the United States and abroad. Over the years they spent time in Canada, England, France, Spain, the former Soviet Union and other parts of Europe and they led a tour group to Israel and the Middle East in 1976. They also enjoyed close ties with an extended family scattered from Florida to California. Their Carmel home became a hub for family gatherings for both the Saunders and Stewart sides of the family and they visited family and friends throughout the country. Her husband Warren preceded her in death on March 13, 2003. Survivors include a son, E. Stewart Saunders (wife, Margaret) of Lafayette, IN and three grandchildren, The Rev. Lawrence Saunders (wife, Jessica) of Culver, IN, M. Augustus Saunders of Los Angeles, CA and Emily Summers (husband, Justin) of Tipton, IN. She is also survived by two great grandchildren as well as nieces, nephews and their families. She was preceded in death by five sisters, Clara Stewart Towsend, Eloise Stewart, Ida Stewart Huggins, Kathryn Stewart Shaver and Lucille Stewart Powell. Family and friends will gather on Friday, December 26, 2008 from 4 to 7 p.m. in Leppert Mortuary, Smith Carmel Chapel. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, December 27, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. in the Carmel United Methodist Church with calling one hour prior to service. Interment will follow in the Carmel Cemetery.
December 24, 2008 Irene Saunders long time Carmel resident, died on Sunday, December 21, 2008 in her home. Mary Irene Stewart was born in Lake Butler, FL in 1907 to the late Henry and Ada Stewart. She graduated from Bradenton High School in Bradenton, FL in 1925 and from Florida State College for Women in Tallahassee in 1929. Irene married Warren Saunders on June 24, 1934, in Bradenton, a union which lasted nearly seventy years. The couple moved to Indiana in 1952, following his ordination as a pastor, and together they served Methodist churches in Richmond, Leesburg and Goshen before moving to Carmel United Methodist Church in 1964. They retired in Carmel in 1982. After college, she served for ten years as secretary to the manager of Peninsula Telephone Company in Bradenton. During WWII the couple moved many times due to her husband's military service. After he enrolled at Emory University in 1947, she worked as secretary to the head of the medical service at a VA hospital in Atlanta, and then served as secretary to Atlanta physician James Paulin, the doctor who signed President Roosevelt's death certificate. Following their move to Indiana, Irene devoted her energies to church, community and family. Active in United Methodist Women, she was also a member of PEO sorority, the Entre Nous Club, and the Carmel Symphony guild. She also served on the board of the Lucille Raines Residence and taught the Fidelis Sunday School class at Carmel UMC for many years. A devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, Irene was also a wonderful cook and a gracious hostess who enjoyed entertaining. Travel was another passion. The couple traveled widely both in the United States and abroad. Over the years they spent time in Canada, England, France, Spain, the former Soviet Union and other parts of Europe and they led a tour group to Israel and the Middle East in 1976. They also enjoyed close ties with an extended family scattered from Florida to California. Their Carmel home became a hub for family gatherings for both the Saunders and Stewart sides of the family and they visited family and friends throughout the country. Her husband Warren preceded her in death on March 13, 2003. Survivors include a son, E. Stewart Saunders (wife, Margaret) of Lafayette, IN and three grandchildren, The Rev. Lawrence Saunders (wife, Jessica) of Culver, IN, M. Augustus Saunders of Los Angeles, CA and Emily Summers (husband, Justin) of Tipton, IN. She is also survived by two great grandchildren as well as nieces, nephews and their families. She was preceded in death by five sisters, Clara Stewart Towsend, Eloise Stewart, Ida Stewart Huggins, Kathryn Stewart Shaver and Lucille Stewart Powell. Family and friends will gather on Friday, December 26, 2008 from 4 to 7 p.m. in Leppert Mortuary, Smith Carmel Chapel. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, December 27, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. in the Carmel United Methodist Church with calling one hour prior to service. Interment will follow in the Carmel Cemetery.
Memorials to the Carmel United Methodist Church or the Habitat for Humanity.
Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start, so we had planned to head home last week to celebrate with my family on Saturday, which happened, just not in the originally planned manner. So we left Friday morning, in the midst of ice, snow, sleet, just plain YUCK! We made it, but on the way found out that my parents had lost power, due to the lovely ice, so we would head to my grandmother's house to stay. My parents had heat, but we wanted to be able to enjoy the luxury of working toilet facilities. Since the power still wasn't on for our planned get together on Saturday my mom brought the whole dinner over to grandma's to fix. So everyone came to grandma's house instead, which turned out fine. It was nice considering the number of years it has been since we have been able to celebrate there together as a family and not having grandpa with us it was good to be at their house.
