Douglas Lloyd Saunders

Born November 16, 1923 in San Antonio, he was the son of Mary Ollie Bales Saunders and John Henry Saunders. A 1941 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School, he attended Texas A&M College from 1941 until 1942.

After the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served from 1942-1946 as a 1st Lieutenant and pilot with the 9th Air Force Troop Carrier Command in Europe.

Upon leaving the Air Force, he returned to San Antonio where he met Mary Fern Keller. The couple married in September 1947 and returned to College Station, where Doug resumed his education, graduating from Texas A&M in 1948 with a degree in Petroleum Engineering.

In 1950, after several oilfield assignments with Sun Oil Company, Fern and Doug returned to San Antonio where their three children were born and raised.

Doug entered the home-building business and during his career built thousands of homes around San Antonio. He was an original partner in Oak Hills and developed many real estate projects including apartments, shopping centers, and residential communities, including Westwood Village, Woodlake subdivision and golf course, and his pride and joy, Elm Creek.

He was a member of Texas A&M Association of Former Students, National Association of Home Builders, San Antonio Home Builders' Association, San Antonio Real Estate Board, and the National Real Estate Board.

Doug was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 50 years, Fern; by his parents and by his sister, Mary Elizabeth Saunders. He is survived by his brother, John Henry Saunders, Jr. and wife Salle Saunders of Sacramento, CA; two sons, Douglas Lloyd Saunders, Jr. and John Keller Saunders and wife Betty Brown Saunders; and daughter, Nancy Leigh Saunders Wright and husband Mark Anderson Wright; three grandsons, Justin Lee Saunders, Christopher Neal Saunders and Douglas Lloyd Saunders III; three granddaughters, Averi Elizabeth Saunders, Allison Keller Saunders and Susannah Leigh Wright; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

Doug loved the outdoors and had a special fondness for the Texas Hill Country and especially for Wimberley, where his grandparents lived and where he spent many summers as a child and returned often in the past few years.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Boysville, Inc, P.O. Box 369, Converse, TX 78109 or Medina Children's Home, 6776 Ingram Road, San Antonio, TX 78238.