Opal Saunders, Cheneyville, longtime Bunkie Record reporter

Graveside services for Opal Sue Saunders will be Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. in the Beulah Baptist Church Cemetery with officiating. Burial will follow under the direction of Melancon Funeral Home, Bunkie.

The family requests that visitation be observed at Melancon Funeral Home on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m..

Ms. Saunders, age 81, of Cheneyville, passed away on Saturday, February 6, 2021 at the Naomi Heights Nursing Home in Alexandria. Opal graduated from high school in 1958 and began her newspaper career later.
She was a reporter for The Bunkie Record, Ville Platte Gazette and The Town Talk. She was a member of ABW of Bunkie, where she held many offices and honors. She was also a member of the Learners Homemaker Club, where she received the Homemaker of the Year award. She was preceded in death by her parents, Elmo and Oddie Broussard Saunders and her brother, Donald Saunders.
Garland Foreman, former Bunkie Record Editor and current Ville Platte Gazette Editor said of Blood, "She was a dedicated worker who always believed in helping her community. She always wanted the best for her family and the newspapers she worked for in her career."
She had a love of the culture of Bunkie and while working at the Bunkie Record, spent years promoting the community in as many ways as possible. She spearheaded the efforts to gather and frame portraits of past Bunkie Mayor's who still hang in the city hall today.

She is survived by her two sons, David Blood and wife, Melissa, of Quitman, AR and Marvin Blood of Tumwater, WA; his two sister, Lula Hardy of Zephyrhills, FL and Emily Saunders of Tioga; four brothers, Elroy Saunders of Viola, IL, Elmo Saunders and wife, VaRie, of San Antonio, TX, Charles Saunders of Pineville and Gerald Saunders of Springfield, IL and many grandchildren. Honored to serve as Pallbearers are Elter Smith, Bobby Harris, Paul Vidrine, Ryan Ardoin, George Mouliere and David Blood.