Charles Albert Saunders

Charles Albert Saunders was born in Boulder, Colorado, to Charles and Anna Crouse Saunders. His father was an immigrant from Wales and his mother was a World War I Red Cross nurse from an Ohio farm. His family moved to Houston in 1929 where he spent the remainder of his life. He attended John H. Reagan High School and was graduated from San Jacinto High School. He served as president of the San Jacinto High School Alumni Association for 6 years. He attended the University of Houston and The University of Texas School of Law. Upon graduation from law school in 1945, the universities conferred the B.A. and L.L.B. Degrees in the same year. He also studied at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England. He joined the law firm of Wood, Gresham, McCorquodale and Martin in 1945, which was merged the same year into the law firm now known as Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. He practiced corporate, trust, and estate law until retirement in 1988, and continued to practice law thereafter, limiting his practice to charitable causes. He was exceedingly proud of his Fulbright & Jaworski associates and partners with whom he practiced law for 65 years. He was a founding director of Pinemont State Bank.

The greatest blessings of his life were his marriage to Betti Friedel in 1946, and the birth of their four children, Melanie Walter-Mahoney and her husband, Tim, C. Stephen Saunders, Cindy Buggs and her husband, Bradley, and Shelley Eatherly and her husband Jeff, all of whom survive. He is also survived by 11 wonderful grandchildren; 4 great grandchildren; and his sister Helen Irene Dotson.

He served as a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Houston, president of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and was an academician of The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law. His interest in collegiate education prompted him to award a gold medal for 31 years to the University of Houston graduating athlete who had excelled in scholarship, leadership and sportsmanship. His interest continued in legal education and he created books for laymen as well as lawyers on trust and estate subjects. He served as general counsel for American Lung Association, Friends of the Library of the University of Houston, English Speaking Union of the United States, and was a longtime director of the Association for Community Broadcasting.

His awards include: Distinguished Alumnus, University of Houston; Leon Jaworski Award, Houston Bar Association Auxiliary; Distinguished Alumnus, University of Texas School of Law; Distinguished Probate Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Award of the State Bar of Texas. He was listed in “Who's Who in America” and “Best Lawyers in America,” and was a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

Charles interest in music never faded. He was an officer of Houston Civic Music Association, legal counsel to Houston Symphony Society and a trustee of the University of Houston Moores School of Music. He and Betti attended the Three Choirs Music Festival in England, Chinese Opera in Beijing, Kobuki Theater in Tokyo, the Sydney Opera House, Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Ballet in St Petersburg, as well as theaters in Berlin, Vienna and Budapest.

An event the family recalls with continuing delight occurred in 1993, when Charles assembled his children at the YMCA of the Rockies to announce his plan to give away a substantial portion of their inheritance to create a family foundation for charitable, religious, educational, scientific and literary purposes in remembrance of his family's dire poverty during the Great Depression. Silence fell on the meeting until he stated that their four children, along with Betti and Charles, would be equal trustees to give away funds from the Foundation on Thanksgiving Day each year. Silence became uncontrolled exuberance, which continues to this day and is expected to continue in perpetuity.

He was an enthusiastic Habitat for Humanity carpenter and a long time member of Central Presbyterian and Memorial Drive Presbyterian Churches. He and Betti were intrepid world adventure travelers who explored the seven continents and 138 countries.

A quiet end to a wonderful life, which began on the 18th of January 1922, and ended on the 10th of September 2011.

The family would like to extend a special thanks to his caregivers from Home Instead for the wonderful care they provided.

“When the bellman tolls the knell of parting day and whispers softly of another land, I would like thoughts to be of happy times and sunny days. I would like tears of those who mourn be dried by the sun of happy memories when time, like an ever-flowing stream, bears me away.”

The memorial service is to be conducted at three o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, the 17th of September, in the Sanctuary of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, 11612 Memorial Drive in Houston, where Dr. David Peterson, Senior Pastor, is to officiate. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the Narthex.

Prior to the service, the family will have gathered for a private interment at Brookside Memorial Park in Houston.

In lieu of the customary remembrance, those desiring may make a contribution to the Moores School of Music, University of Houston, 120 School of Music Building, Houston, TX, 77204-4017; or to a charity of one’s choice.