Louis B. Saunders

Page 454-455 - Louis B. Saunders is one of the prominent and influential representatives of the insurance and real estate business in Grand Rapids, and in the latter department of his operations he has made noteworthy contribution to the progressive upbuilding of his native city and its suburban districts. Mr. Saunders was born in Grand Rapids, September 24, 1877, and is a son of the late Dr. William G. and Sarah (Benedict) Saunders, the former of whom died in November, 1903, and the latter of whom passed away in May, 1898. Dr. Saunders was long numbered among the representative physicians and surgeons in Grand Rapids and Kent county. In the public schools of Grand Rapids, Louis B. Saunders continued his studies until his graduation in the high school as a member of the class of 1898. In the following year he engaged in the insurance business in this city, and in 1915 he here erected the modern structure known as the Saunders Insurance building, in which he maintains his office headquarters and which is situated at 228 Ottawa avenue, northwest, his home being at 333 Fulton street, east. Within a comparatively short time after establishing himself in the insurance business Mr. Saunders initiated also characteristically vigorous and well directed operations in the real estate business, in which he has become a leader in the metropolitan district of Grand Rapids. His real estate operations have been of extensive and important order, and he has developed many suburban districts, his operations having included the erection of many high-grade houses in and about Grand Rapids. He has a professional distaste for vacant lots, and his hobby has been to acquire same, erect houses on the properties and then place the same on the market. Mr. Saunders is found aligned loyally in the ranks of the Republican party, and while he has had no desire for public office, his civic interest caused him to give most effective service as alderman from the Tenth ward of the city in the period 1906-12. In the Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine; he is affiliated also with the B. P. O. Elks, Knights of Pythias, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he is a member of the Grand Rapids Real Estate Board and of the Masonic Country Club. July 1, 1901, was marked by the marriage of Mr. Saunders to Miss Lucy Gale, daughter of John and Alberta (Britton) Gale, of Grand Rapids, and of this union there are two children: Louis B., Jr., who was born December 3, 1904, is now associated with his father’s business, and he is also a talented musician; Marian Gale, who was born February 26, 1910, is at the time of this writing, in the autumn of 1925, a student in the Central high school of Grand Rapids.