We lost two good men

Donald (Don) W. Taylor, January 17, 2009
James (Jimmy) E. Saunders, January 20, 2009
Friends and family are mourning the loss of Don Taylor and Jimmy Saunders.
Jimmy and I were active at All Souls Presbyterian Church in the 1960s and 70s. We were both on the Board of Deacons and that was where we interacted most often.
At the time we met, he was a police detective, and I was a federal employee. Later I joined the faculty at Virginia Union University, and I learned he was a student there. I did not get to have him in any of my classes. I wish I had. When he graduated, someone yelled "old timer", and he laughed.
I saw him every now and then recently. About six years ago he told me he had prostate cancer. Jimmy was forthright and up front.
I saw Don Taylor all the time. We belonged to two bridge groups. Sometimes he gave me a ride home. He was the dominant player in the Union Progressive Bridge Club when I joined several years ago.
I was very honored when he asked me to play with him in a tournament. I was new to duplicate bridge and bidding boxes, and I made a couple of major blunders. But we did fairly well.
Then he had an anurism that few people survive. But he survived, and he almost came all the way back. He was a decent player but no longer dominant. I last saw him in December 2008. Bridge will never be the same.
James E. Saunders and Donald W. Taylor were good men.