mWilburn R. Saunders Jr. was born in Starkville, MS on February 12, 1915. He was born to Wilburn Russell Saunders Sr. (March 31, 1892 - December 3, 1972) and Altie Reynolds Saunders (February 11, 1893 - January 26, 1976). He had two sisters, Grosie Heath Saunders Holland (5 April 1917 – 13 October 2012) married Albert Holland who attended the Mississippi State University and was buried in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Altie Saunders Patterson (b. 29 August 1920) married Robert Lee Patterson in 1949. He had a brother, David A. Saunders (b. 6 July 1934).
Wilburn Jr.’s father was enlisted in the navy during World War I. Wilburn Jr.’s grandfather, Dero Astyanax Saunders (June 13, 1858 - June 28, 1913), had four children with his wife, Grosie Saunders: Dero Astyanax Saunders Jr. (March 9, 1900 – October 15, 1961), Madison Ames Saunders (July 23, 1885 – April 11, 1964), Wilburn Russell Saunders , and Louise Gaudet Ramsey (April 10, 1895 – September 16, 1978). The Saunders family lived on the Greensboro street in Starkville. The Saunders family were descendants of Brigadier General William Russell of Virginia. He was a graduate of William and Mary College and commanded a company at Point Pleasant and Long Island Flats, 1776. He and his wife, Tabitha Adams, had a daughter, Chloe Russell, who married Reverend Hubbard Saunders and gave birth to William Russell Saunders, whose son was Dero Astyanax Saunders. The family has been living in Starkville for more than four generations. Wilburn Saunders attended schools in Starkville. He moved to El Paso, Texas at some point between 1935 and 1940. He published a song, titled “I’m dreaming of a kiss,” with H. J. Levenstein on May 15, 1937. He had completed 4 years of college. Saunders worked as a senior draftsman in United States International Boundary. He married Mildred H. Saunders, who was five years younger than him. [ |