Phil Saulnier ’62 and Judy Stone Saulnier ’61 have memories filled with joy and sorrow. As undergraduates, they fell in love with the campus and with each other. So when the Dunn Loring, Va., couple sought a way to preserve the memory of their loved ones, they chose to establish a memorial endowment at the University.
But let’s start at the beginning. If men and women had dined together on campus in 1958, it’s possible that Phil and Judy would never have met. They both were asked to serve on a committee to discuss the feasibility of eliminating gender separation at meal times.
A physical education major, Phil was co-captain of the 1961 football team and the cadet colonel in the University’s ROTC program. He later received an M.S. in management from Florida Institute of Technology.
Judy studied elementary education and, like Phil , was active in the Greek community—Phil in Theta Chi, she in Sigma Kappa.
The couple married while in school. Their son Michael was born when Phil was a senior and Judy was finishing her first year of teaching. Two more children, Robert and Charlotte, quickly followed. The couple is blessed with four grandchildren. “The University was a great stepping off point for us,” Phil says. “We have such fond memories and made many lifelong friends.”
After graduation, Phil was commissioned an infantry officer and assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. He later transferred to the Quartermaster Corps where he commanded a battalion in the 9th Infantry Division and a support group in the 18th Airborne Corps. His 24-year Army career included two tours of duty in Vietnam.
The Saulniers are active members of the Washington, D.C., Alumni Chapter; Phil was chapter president for 10 years and is now a URI Foundation trustee.
For the Saulniers, family, alma mater, and service are top priorities. Hence, the Saulnier-Stone Memorial Endowment is named after their son Robert, who was killed in an auto accident when he was 20. It is also named after Judy’s mother, Elaine King Stone, who died at 51, and after Judy’s sister, Charlotte Elaine Stone, who died when she was 10.
The endowment will provide scholarships for undergraduate students majoring in any of the humanities. The couple chose the humanities to match the interests of their son and Judy’s mother.
“The Saulniers are the kind of people we wish we could clone for URI,” comments Robert Beagle, vice president of University Advancement. “They are donors and volunteers with a passion for the University who have chosen a touching way to honor their late family members while helping their alma mater.”
By Jan Wenzel ’87
PHOTO BY Nora Lewis
