Obituary of Susan Murphy Saunders

Susan Murphy Saunders, 75, a Chapel Hill native and long-time Charlotte resident and educator, died on Saturday at her home at Carolina Meadows in Chapel Hill after a two-year struggle with pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease. 1. Ms. Saunders was the daughter of the late J. Maryon Saunders and the late Susan Rose Saunders of Chapel Hill. She is survived by her sister, Eleanor Saunders Morris, of Chapel Hill, and her nephews, William T. Morris of Durham and Joseph M. Morris of Brooklyn, NY, and their families. Ms. Saunders retired in 2001after 39 years on the faculty of Charlotte Country Day School. She taught in the sixth grade and later became the Lower School librarian. Ms. Saunders took pride in having taught thousands of girls and boys - sometimes two generations of the same family - and in seeing former students throughout North Carolina and beyond. The School recognized her contributions with the Alumni Faculty Award and membership in the Honorary Alumni Association. A graduate of Chapel Hill High School, Ms. Saunders attended Queens College and UNC-Chapel Hill, receiving an AB in Education from UNC in 1959. She earned a Masters in Library Science from UNC-Greensboro in 1986. After a brief stint teaching in Wilmington, NC, Ms. Saunders spent four years as a teacher with the U.S. Air Force Dependents' Schools in England and Japan. She traveled widely during those years, and collected books, costumes, and other treasures that she used in history and geography lessons for decades to come. An inventive teacher, Ms. Saunders delighted in making far-off times and places real to children. Her proudest professional triumphs were the day-to-day connections she made between children and books. She had an uncanny ability to find the "right" book for any child. After retiring, Ms. Saunders continued educating children as a volunteer docent at the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, where she offered students a hands-on introduction to the history of their own communities. She also served as a volunteer at Hospitality House in Charlotte. Ms. Saunders was a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority, the UNC-CH General Alumni Association, and the First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte. She was an enthusiastic gardener, and grew flowers and vegetables which she shared with neighbors and friends. She had a diverse network of friends, colleagues and extended family, which she expanded into the Carolina Meadows community when she moved there in 2011. She cherished her annual trips to Isle au Haut, Maine, and the connections to family, friends and a close-knit community there. In her fight with a debilitating lung disease, Ms. Saunders received great comfort from professional care-givers, Patricia Miller, Wilma Richardson, Deandrea Franklin, Cherry O'Neil, Donna Revels, Jannie Garcia-Villa, as well as from the nurses and staff of Hospice of Wake County and the Carolina Meadows Health Center. A memorial service for Ms. Saunders will be held on Saturday, May 4 at 3:00 pm at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill. A reception will follow the service in the Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education Foundation, 103 Peabody Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3500 or to the Spike Saunders Scholarship Fund, UNC-Chapel Hill, PO Box 309, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.