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Father Thomas C. Saunders, who served as Mary-
knoll’s regional superior in Mexico and was pastor of parishes there, died June 24 at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow. He was 82.
He was ordained for Maryknoll in 1965 and served in the Yucatan and was a parochial vicar of a parish in Mexico City, where he later was a pastor.
In 1972, he was appointed first consultor to Maryknoll’s regional superior. Three years later, he was appointed assistant regional superior of the Mexico Region, a position to which he was reappointed.
In 1983, he was named regional superior of Mexico.
Father Saunders again served as a pastor in Mexico City, 1984-1992. From 1992 to 1999, he was a pastor in Chihuahua, and then in Veracruz. In 1999, he became a pastor of another parish in Veracruz.
Born in Los Angeles, he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Maryknoll College, Glen Ellyn, Ill., and earned his bachelor of divinity and master of religious education degrees from Maryknoll Seminary, Ossining.
He is survived by his brothers, John and Walter, and sisters, Bertalou Kelley and Martha McLaughlin.
A Funeral Mass was offered July 22 in Queen of Apostles Chapel at Maryknoll in Ossining. Burial was at Maryknoll Cemetery.
