William (Bill) Arthur Saunders

William (Bill) Arthur Saunders passed away on October 23, 2024. He was born on October 13, 1930, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to Arthur and Irene Saunders. Bill was preceded in death by his father, mother, brother Donald, and daughter Marianne. He is survived by his wife Sherri, with whom he shared 33 years, along with his son Mark and wife Darlene, and daughter Nancy. During high school, he served as a sergeant in the Royal Canadian Artillery Militia, where he fired ceremonial salutes on Parliament Hill. Although he passed the entrance exams for the Royal Military College, he chose not to pursue that path as he was uncertain about his future direction. He spent a year working in a fermentation pilot plant at the National Research Council of Canada, where he developed an interest in biochemistry. In the summers of 1953 and 1954, he worked as a lab technician at the NRC in Fermentation Chemistry and Enzymology. Bill was a co-author of two research papers and was acknowledged in a third. He conducted 95% of the lab work for a fourth unpublished paper. Notably, DNA was described by Crick and Watson in 1953, and in 1954, Watson visited Bill's lab. Bill earned his Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University, followed by a Master of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Western Ontario. He began his career as an economic analyst at Imperial Oil in Toronto in 1956. In 1963, he joined Polymer Corporation in Sarnia, Ontario. By 1970, he had become a parent company representative at a polystyrene manufacturing facility in Leominster, Massachusetts, where he played a key role in the company's acquisition. In 1977, Bill joined Gulf Oil Chemicals in Houston, Texas, as part of the New Business Development department. He was instrumental in Gulf's acquisition of Union Carbide’s polystyrene business. In 1986, he volunteered to assist with the grief ministry at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston. Bill developed and co-led the Grief to Growth Transitions program, which provided attendees with an understanding of the grief process and offered tools to help them navigate their grief journey. In 1988, he presented a seminar on grief to 43 ministers, who received continuing education credits for their participation. A copy of the seminar has since been placed in the library of The Perkins School of Theology. For several years, both Bill and Sherri served as Stephen Ministers. Bill's ashes will be inurned in the Memorial Garden at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas.

William (Bill) Arthur Saunders

October 13, 1930 - October 23, 2024