Saunders brothers made an impact

The Saunders brothers, both quite involved in West Side sports, died 36 days apart recently.
Pat Saunders, a former WFMJ-TV sports director, passed away Feb. 29 at age 49. His brother, John "Red" Saunders, succumbed on April 4 at age 64.
Their obituaries looked like carbon copies, both in content and pictorially.
Current Chaney football coach Ron Berdis remembers both, either from school days or their association through sports.
Association
In high school, Pat was a few years behind Berdis at Chaney. But Ron knew Red first, mostly from elementary school where Saunders coached St. Brendan's football and basketball teams for 25 years.
"Some of the best players who came out of Chaney played for Red at St. Brendan's," Berdis said of the O'Malleys, the Zordiches and the Calcagnis.
"Many others were coached by Red," Berdis said of Saunders' guidance over former St. Brendan players such as Howland football coach Dick Angle.
Eventually, Red became affiliated with Chaney as a scout for former football coaches Red Angelo and Ed Matey. When Berdis became head coach in 1987, he hired Red Saunders as an assistant.
"They impacted the lives of countless youth," Berdis said of the Saunders brothers.
In the last decade, physical problems restricted Red's participation to Saturday film sessions and bus trips to games. "It wasn't the nuts-and-bolts of coaching as he knew it," Berdis said.
Prior to his broadcasting career, Pat was involved in West Side sandlot baseball.
"He walked away from a TV job because he had an opportunity to work one-on-one with young people. That was big, and he jumped with both feet," Berdis said of the plunge into the Fellowship of Christian Athletes movement. "Area youth were fortunate because, in that short time with FCA, he was all over the Valley talking with young people and changing their lives."
Dinner
Before he died, Pat Saunders organized a dinner to honor former Chaney athlete Brad Smith. The dinner at the Maronite Center on April 23 will feature Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel. Smith is a Heisman Trophy candidate as Missouri's quarterback.
The oldest Saunders brother, Joe, passed away a few years ago. He's the father of current Chaney assistant Dallas Saunders.
Angle's connection with the family goes back to the father, John L. Saunders.
"The father coached me in grade school when Joe was in the Army," Angle said. "Later, I knew Red when he coached at St. Brendan's. My sister used to baby-sit Pat when he was growing up. What I remember is that you never heard them say a bad a thing about anything. Obviously, they learned that from their father."
As Ursuline's former coach, Angle competed with Red for players from the West Side.
"His loyalty with Chaney didn't help my ability to get West Siders to play at Ursuline," Angle said. "We used to kid each other that he made my job harder."
Berdis said Red will still travel with the Cowboys.
"We'll keep an empty seat for him," he said figuratively. "Our program will really miss him."
TV team
WFMJ's Dana Balash worked with Pat for 13 years.
He said Saunders came up with the idea of broadcasting a high school program on Sundays.
"It was his brainchild, then he collaborated with GM John Grdic, and the popular Inside High School Football became a reality," Balash said. The 11:30 morning show will celebrate its 10th anniversary this fall.
"He wanted to expand high school football coverage, and everything fell into place," Balash said.
My last contact with Pat was last August when he organized an appearance by former Cleveland Browns placekicker Don Cockroft at the Austintown Library's Chapter's restaurant on behalf of the FCA.
XJohn Bassetti is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write to him at bassetti@vindy.com.