|
From
the
newspaper:
Memorial services for John Saunders, 56, Lawrence, will be at
3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Central Junior High School. Mr.
Saunders died Saturday, Oct. 2, 2004, at his home after a long
battle with cancer. He was born June 22, 1948, in Lawrence,
the son of Phillip and Mabel E. Hertzler Saunders.
He graduated from Lawrence High School in 1966. He received a
bachelor's degree in biology from Pittsburg State University,
where he attended on academic and football scholarships. He
played guard on the 1970 Pittsburg State national championship
football team.
Mr. Saunders began teaching biology, physical and life
sciences, and health in 1975 at Central Junior High School. He
also was a coach for the school's Science Olympiad team.
Mr. Saunders became a longtime coach of football, wrestling
and track. He also was a sideline official for LHS varsity
football games.
He was a member of the Lakeview Hunting and Fishing Assn. and
the Lawrence chapter of Quail Unlimited.
Mr. Saunders, who was a Boy Scout himself, was a longtime
leader for Troop 55 as well as a member of the Pelathe
District scout leader training team, and received the Award of
Merit. As a Boy Scout he was elected into the Order of the
Arrow and achieved the rank of Life Scout. As an adult he
became an honorary member of the Tribe of Micosay.
After being diagnosed with renal cancer in November 1998 which
then spread to his kidneys, Mr. Saunders became one of a
handful of patients in 2000 to enter an experimental stem-cell
transplant and research program at the National Institutes of
Health.
He married Lynn Corn in April 1979 in Lawrence. She survives,
of the home. Other survivors include a son, Loren P. Saunders,
Mission; a sister, Martha Skeet, Lawrence; three nephews and
one niece.
Feature story:
Longtime teacher, coach dies at age 56
By Jay Senter
Sunday, October 3, 2004
John Saunders, a longtime coach and teacher at Central Junior
High School, died Saturday after a long battle with kidney
cancer. He was 56.
Last year, the school honored Saunders, who taught biology and
coached wrestling and football during his 24 years at Central,
by naming the athletic fields at the school in his honor.
"He was just thrilled about that," said Kathy Carlsen, who
taught science with Saunders for several years. "He was always
a very positive person, but he was on a high for days
afterwards."
Roughly five years ago, Saunders sustained an injury while
demonstrating a wrestling move. He visited the doctor, who
diagnosed him with cancer. Saunders continued to teach and
coach for a while after the diagnosis, but eventually became
ill enough that he had to take a leave of absence.
Students and colleagues described Saunders as a great
motivator whose determination and humor rubbed off on those he
coached and taught.
"He taught me to love football," said Greg Erb, a former
Kansas University player whose first football experience came
with Saunders at Central. "He showed you how to work hard to
get what you want. And he did the same thing in the classroom
that he did on the football field. He taught you how to be
successful."
Brian Anderson, who coached with Saunders for several years
before moving on to Lawrence High School, said Saunders did a
considerable amount of research on his illness after he was
diagnosed.
"He was one of those guys who could take any situation and
find a bright side to it," Anderson said. "Even if his illness
was going to get him eventually, he wanted to find out
everything he could so that someone else down the road
wouldn't have to suffer as much."
Carlsen said Saunders pushed students to do the best at
everything they tried.
"John was just so used to giving his all at everything that he
simply expected the same from everyone he was around," she
said.
A Lawrence native, Saunders attended Central as a teenager. He
joined the school's faculty in 1975.
Saunders is survived by his wife, Lynn, a retired Lawrence
High School teacher, and his son, Loren. |
