Ray Saunders

Ray Saunders, born and raised in Homestead, Pennsylvania, moved to West Mifflin during his junior year of high school and was a three-year starter at center on the Penn State basketball team from 1964 to 1966, appearing in NCAA and NIT tournament games. After college he served in Vietnam as a chaplain's assistant from 1967 to 1968, and on his return began working with the Steel Valley Youth Ministry. In April 1972 he joined the staff of Young Life, an international non-denominational youth ministry, and in 1973 he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister through the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He chose not to work in a church, instead focusing on ministering to teens in the Steel Valley and surrounding communities through Young Life. Using his love of gardening and working with the Homestead-Area Economic Revitalization Corporation, Ray and several Young Life teens created this garden and others in the Homestead area. He remained a guiding presence in the lives of Mon Valley youth until his untimely death on December 20th, 2009.

Homestead, Pennsylvania · United States