Dorothy Bernice Saunders

Dorothy “Dottie” Bernice Saunders, age 90, of Wayne for over sixty-five years, passed peacefully on Sunday, April 21, 2019.

She was born to William and Inez Spencer in the Bronx, New York.  Through her childhood years Dottie lived in all of the five boroughs of New York City at one time or another.  When she was a junior in high school her family moved to North Haledon and she graduated from Hawthorne High School with the Class of 1946. She continued her education and received her undergraduate degree from William Paterson College in Wayne. Dottie has lived in North Haledon, Pekin, Illinois, and Wayne for the past sixty-five years.

She met the love of her life Richard “Dick” Saunders III while at a dance in North Haledon.  They married on July 14, 1946 at Saint Pauls Church in Paterson. “Dick” was just out of the Navy and they had their reception in the backyard of their home.  They never had a formal honeymoon as they just didn’t have the money.  Dottie would tell the story that her mother was a bit skeptical about her marrying a “sailor” that was possibly an “experienced man” but soon realized he was a wonderful son-in-law. Dottie was always the one on the go and Dick would stay in the background.  One shining example of this is when they bought their home in Wayne.  Dottie showed him the house they were going to buy and he simply said “that’s fine” and signed the purchase contract. All else was in Dottie’s hands.  That being said Dick was always very proud of his Dottie and her dedication to family, community, and veterans. They had a loving and devoted marriage of fifty-four years before his passing in 2000.

Dottie was independent, strong willed, organized, determined, and dedicated to her Catholic faith, family, community, country and veterans.  She was a dedicated mother to her two children Richard and Rickie and always taking her kids shopping in downtown Paterson and Pompton Lakes. She was a member of St Paul’s Church in Paterson, later North Haledon and for many years she was a parishioner of Holy Cross Church in the Mountain View section of Wayne. Dottie was an over twenty-five year member of Wayne Fire Department Community Co. #1’s Ladies Auxiliary and joined the Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion Post 174 in Wayne and focused her time and talent on helping Veterans across our country.  With the American Legion she worked her way through the local ranks, then the county ranks and served as County President in 1989 and 2005 and finally became the President of the American Legion Auxiliary Department of New Jersey 1995-1996. Dottie went on to work with the National Executive Committee of the American Legion Auxiliary for several years. She has traveled across the country attending American Legion Auxiliary meetings, conventions, visiting veteran hospitals and speaking to all types of groups on behalf of veterans. She was also an accomplished painter whose favorite medium was acrylic paints.  She would demand to see family vacation photos for inspiration and won many awards for her work.

Dottie worked full time for the State Farm Insurance Company in Wayne for twenty-seven years having retired in 1990 as an Insurance Underwriter. During her years at State Farm she was told she couldn’t get a promotion without a higher degree.  She was never one to be deterred so she entered a Masters Degree program at William Paterson College in Wayne and coordinated her classes with her daughter Rickie’s so they could commute to school together. Looking at all of Dottie’s life accomplishments it’s hard to believe it but she never had a driver’s license!

Dottie was the loving wife of fifty-four years to the late Richard “Dick” Saunders, III (d.2000); devoted mother of Rickie Katz and her husband Alan of West Milford and the late Richard Saunders IV (d.2007) and his surviving wife Catherine of Wayne; cherished grandmother of Richard Saunders and his wife Melissa, Mark Saunders, William Katz and his wife Susan, Jessica Watkins, and Allison Watkins; dearly loved great-grandmother of Cameron Saunders, Ava Saunders, Hannah Katz, Lexi Watkins, Donald Watkins, Aiden Watkins, and Nora Watkins.

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In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the American Legion Post 174, 55 Boonton Tpk.,Wayne, NJ 07470 would be greatly appreciated.