Mom and Dad met at Miami in 1950, and in 1953 became the second Miami Merger in her family. Mom’s parents had both graduated from Miami in the 1920s; Dad was the first in his family to be college-educated. There was never a question within their respective families whether Mom and Dad would attend college, and Miami became the most obvious choice. Both of them had the opportunity to “go away" to college yet chose the benefit of being closer to home. Mom’s folks were in Cincinnati and Dad’s in Trenton.
Both Mom and Dad were motivated students and received excellent grades. Mom graduated cum laude and was also a Phi Beta Kappa. Within the family, she always said she was the smarter of the two; Dad agreed! They both viewed higher education as a privilege, and neither of them ever took for granted the opportunities afforded them as a result of completing their undergraduate degrees at Miami.
They were generous in their support of Miami over the years. They had settled in Middletown and were close enough to Oxford to enjoy home football games, especially when Miami would play the University of Cincinnati where Mom’s cousins had attended. The entire extended family, children included, would frequently attend these events as well.
Mom and Dad gave back to their alma mater, their community, and to future generations in a variety of ways. Mom taught at Middletown High School for 17 years, inspiring many students to pursue education beyond high school. Dad worked at Armco Steel but found time to teach undergraduate business classes at Miami-Middletown in the evenings. Many of his students were steel mill laborers pursuing degrees as working adults. He often reflected on how fortunate he had been to attend Miami full-time.
Mom and Dad died in 2015 and 2017, respectively. They had retired to Fort Myers, Florida, in 1991, and their support of Miami from that point became almost exclusively financial. We were always aware that there would be a monetary gift to Miami as a part of their final wishes. We were very happy to be able to give this gift in person on December 29, 2017, as a tribute to our parents and all that Miami University meant to them, and to us.
— Carol L. Saunders St. Clair (’80) and David W. Saunders (Indiana ’78)