Saunders 50th Anniversary

March 21, 2008 11:28 pm

— A won bet turned out to be much better than expected for Rick Saunders. Over 50 years ago, Rick and his father were talking with a gentleman in front of the café is Blooming Grove. Rick was about to return to Austin, where he was working after graduating from The University of Texas. The gentleman teased Rick that none of the local young ladies would go out with him, but Rick, showing youthful confidence, assured him that any one of them would. This led to a bet that the next single young lady that came by would go out with Rick, with the winnings being a malt at the café. Luckily, Judy Gillen walked up with her mother, Jewel. Rick asked Mrs. Gillen if she would allow Judy to go out with him, and she gladly accepted. Mrs. Gillen adored Rick the rest of her life, always speaking proudly and lovingly of her son-in-law. Similarly, Rick’s parents, Sammie and Viola, treasured Judy as the daughter they had always wanted.
On March 22, 1958, Richard Carroll Saunders and Judith Gillen were united in marriage at the First Baptist Church in Blooming Grove. The couple made their first home in Fort Worth, where Rick worked at General Dynamics and Judy worked at Forth Worth National Bank until starting their family. Rick and Judy’s family includes three children: Laurie Carol, and four years later twins Richard Glynn and Shirley Lynn. In 1972, the couple returned to Blooming Grove to raise their children in the more relaxed, country lifestyle. Laurie married Dusty Ledbetter. They live on the family farm north of Blooming Grove, and have one son, Lee. Glynn and his wife, the former Robyn Thomas, and their son, Thomas, also live in Blooming Grove. Lynn lives in Brazoria.
Rick and Judy are active in the Blooming Grove community, especially the United Methodist Church. Rick is manager of information systems for Navarro County. Judy is very active in the Navarro County Emmaus Group and Eastern Star.

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