***For condolences, the primary site for Ben’s Memorial can be found at: https://app.memories.net/memo…

Michael Saunders passed away on Sun Oct 14, 2024, at the age of 41. Michael's memory will forever live on in the hearts of family and friends.

During his school age years, Ben was fond of his time outside building forts with scrap lumber lying around, jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler set up beneath, playing ping-pong on the back porch, and closing his bedroom door to turn up his music and singing uninhibited as loud as he pleased. With a house full of brothers, Ben needn’t wander far to engage in his own home-based arcade game where the brotherly fun could be described punch-kick-yell-laugh-punch-kick.

In middle school, from a young age, Ben proved that he could bring home good grades and be competitive in a number of extracurricular activities. In addition to playing trumpet in the school band, he played basketball, football, soccer, and tennis. Beyond his school activities, he enjoyed quiet time at home reading, walking/riding to the nearest convenience store to buy a bag of Doritos and a bottle of soda pop, going swimming with his brothers & friends in his backyard, and engaging in the routine shenanigans of his childhood home on Pete Dawson Road.

As Ben grew throughout his high school years, he developed a feverish desire to excel in cross-country. While he was passionate about his football and basketball endeavors, it was his passion for running that brought his spirits to new strides. His dedication not to running, but to becoming something greater than he was, defined this period of Ben’s life with particular astonishment. His siblings recount the countless trips Ben would make to Tumamoc Hill to train with a tire dragging behind him. It was there that Ben shined brightest and his grit was most evident.

It was during these high school years that Ben suffered the untimely death of close friend Ryan Mark McCray. Ryan’s parting was felt with immeasurable pain to Ben and it was during this time that Ben’s sensitivity to personal loss was made obvious to those that looked on. Ryan’s short life gave way for Ben to develop new levels of gratitude for the institution of friendship and paved the road for the next half of Ben’s life. From those days on, Ben would seek true and honest companionship.

Ben went on to run throughout his college years, mostly outside the scope of organized sports. His secondary education began at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ and culminated at the University of Arizona in Tucson where he majored in Communications. From there he pursued a number of complimentary certifications as he set out into the market to provide IT services with various employers.

But even then, Ben had a drive within to connect with the youth of the community and develop them into young athletes. He sought out opportunities to coach. He desired to counsel young athletes in their respective sports in the name of some notion that in intense sport, one finds their best self. And in the case of Ben, if he could help the youth find their best selves, he too would further his own self-actualization.

As Ben’s brothers and friends married and reared children, he found delight in the presence of those children; he came alive in the presence of these little ones. His love for life was palpable and the photographs of his life reflect this need for connection with the children of his community. The theme of this part of his life was characterized by a love of the future of humanity. This theme would leave the greatest overtone of his last several years with us all.

His love for American posterity evolved in his thirties. He became passionate about the goings-on in this world but mostly in the USA and his home state of Arizona. Although not having served in the armed forces, he became hugely patriotic in a time where mainstream pundits sought to systematically undermine the historical value of his country and the collective American ethos he found pride contributing to. He shared his readings and opinions with anyone who would listen in an attempt to rekindle a love for America that he was raised with. Although he met resistance with close family and friends on these matters, he persisted and in the words of his recent employer, he always “had a smile on his face” and “tried to keep things on a happy note… even [through] tough days.”

In his final years, Ben struggled to find his place in an evolving landscape of differing opinions and beliefs. When he reached an impasse with those he cared about on various significant matters, he would often reach out to close friends and family to counsel him through his feelings of rejection. To disagree with his close friends and family was equally difficult but necessary in his love for the future of his home city, state, and country. He felt duty-bound to push these matters forward at great personal distress and those who knew him well at that time could see the toll of that distress in his eyes. Toward the end, his journal entries indicate significant growth; from the depths of distress to the heights of what the future could bring. He found peace in a good night’s sleep, in a warm meal, in a good book, in a hard day’s work- in simplicity. He set his sights on not only the promise of humanity’s future, but his own. For several months, he had been making plans of moving to Kansas, buying a house and finding a wife. Weeks before his passing he had been promoted for the 3rd time by his employer who recognized his strengths in trouble shooting and dedication to excellence. The weekend before he was to begin in his new role, Ben stumbled and fell, hitting his head. Tragically the severe head trauma ushered him into God’s presence and eternal peace.

If one were to evaluate his journal entries and the life he lived, one would appreciate his vision for this world (now left behind)which would translate into: To live fully one must embrace struggle and power through; to better oneself and to encourage those around you to value the same life lessons; to tell the truth to those you love and above all else:

To truly Love.

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