Nansemond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Saunders, James R. Jr., 1906 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ JAMES RIDDICK SAUNDERS For several weeks the death of Mr. James R. Saunders, a well known merchant and farmer of Nansemond county, had been almost hourly expected. Saturday night at 10:55, at his home in Saunders, Va., he peacefully and calmly "fell on sleep," aged 42 years. Sometimes we think that in our intense admiration and hero worship for great men, we lose sight of the men who march in the ranks. We are too narrow and exclusive in our notions of what constitutes goodness and greatness. Privates of the army are just as essential to the success of the battle as the general who plans it. This is well illustrated by the life of the man in whose memory this humble sketch is written. Quiet, unassuming, unostentatious, sympathetic, loyal to principle and true to conviction, he stands out as a striking example of fair dealing and high- mindedness in his life. He has left a lasting impression upon those of his fellow men with whom he had associated in social and business life as a man of splendid character, noble integrity and a conscience void of offense. The charm and purity of his domestic life made his home truly representative. His whole life seemed to irradiate goodness. His neighbors and acquaintances, who knew him best, did not wait until he was dead to say ice things about him and speak well of his good name, but his life had been such a benediction and contributed so much to the general good of his fellowman that he was always spoken of in the highest terms, and "a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." It is an old Talmudic proverb that "When a good man dies, it is the earth that loses. The lost jewel will always be a jewel but he who lost it has just cause to weep." The family and friends will mourn his death, but it is a consolation to remember that his life is a rich mine from which the humblest can gather wealth. From his labors here he has been called away for rest and recreation. We do not believe, to quote the graphic words of the immortal Shakespeare, that he has gone to a "blind cave of eternal night." The spark of a noble life flickered a little while, and then went out. The lute is silent. The chords made of his heartstrings are broken. While with us all the "sense of death is most in apprehension." As the poet has aptly expressed it, we feel justified in indulging the buoyant hope that he has been translated to a brighter and better home beyond the grave, where the air is filled with solemn, entrancing music, and the sky is aglow with the splendor of sunlight and perpetual spring; where the rumbling water are dashed with the fragrance of rare and beautiful flowers, and the garlands, woven from the lilies of the valley, are forever white and green. Let him rest and sleep and dream! Upon the newly made grave where his remains lie buried were placed with tender hands "clusters of beauty whom none can debar, "the choicest roses culled from the garden of love, while as the robe of a sinless one and sweeter than Araby’s winds that blow" 0 the last and purest token affection can offer to our departed friend, son, brother, father and husband. "For love will hope and faith will trust, That somehow, somewhere, meet we must." The deceased is survived by a widow, who was before her marriage Miss Ida Brinkley, a mother, Mrs. Diana O. Saunders, two sisters, Mrs. George A. Tabb, of Portsmouth, and Mrs. Hersey Woodward, of Suffolk; three brothers, Messrs. Leroy E. Saunders, of Pittsburg, Pa.; Paul Saunders, of Tampa, Fla., and Hamlin Saunders, of Savannah, Ga., one daughter, Miss Ruth, and two sons, Job and Ray Saunders, and a host of other relatives and friends. The funeral was conducted Tuesday afternoon at 3 o’clock from the residence by Rev. H.H. Butler, assisted by Dr. W.W. Staley and Rev. G. Wilbur Shipley. The following acted as pallbearers" Honorary - Messrs. W.W. Ballard, G.W. Truitt, B.L. Saunders, G.W. Nurney, George L. Borum, R.H. Rawles, J.B. Harrell, E.B. Brinkley, Samuel Wilkins, W.J. Brinkley, J.W. King and A.L. Harrell. Active - Alphonzo Rodgers, Frank E. Parker, A. Woolford, W.H. Jones, Jr., George L. Barton, James Crocker, Henry Crocker and Dr. D.L. Harrell. A special train was run from Suffolk on the Virginia and Carolina Coast Railway, which carried a number of the friends of the deceased to attend the funeral services. A very large crowd from the neighborhood was there and the floral offerings were many and beautiful. ****************************************************************************** James R. Saunders. (Special to The Times-Dispatch.) SUFFOLK, VA., May 11. - James R. Saunders, a prominent and well-liked farmer and merchant, died at his home in Nansemond county Saturday night. Mr. Saunders had been a sufferer for quite a long time and his death was not a surprise to friends and relatives. He was a son of the late Major James R. Saunders. He leaves a widow, a mother, three brothers, two sisters and three children. The Virginia and Carolina Coast Railroad will run a special train from Suffolk to Saunders Tuesday in order that friends and relatives may attend the funeral. It will leave here at 2 P.M. and return immediately after the funeral. The funeral will take place at 3 o'clock Tuesday afternoon and will be conducted by Rev. H.H. Butler, assisted by Revs. W.W. Staley and G. Wilbur Shipley, all of whom are of Suffolk. The interment will be in the family cemetery. James Riddick "Jim Boy" SAUNDERS, Jr., Nansemond Co. farmer & merchant, d. 12 May 1906, Saunders, age 42, interred in the SAUNDERS family cemetery*, Desert Rd.- off White Marsh Rd., "The Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," May 18, 1906; "Times-Dispatch" (Richmond, VA), No. 17,195, May 15, 1906, p. 3, col. 6 *His parents & paternal grandmother are also buried there. Nansemond Co. Miscellaneous Cemeteries, Vol. I, another extension of the SCHS Cemetery Project: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/nanvol1.txt His widow's obit ("Virginian-Pilot & Norfolk Landmark," Oct. 6, 1914, p. 7) is posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/s536i1ob.txt Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), and re-formatted by File Manager. file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/s536j2ob.txt