MRS. IRENE SAUNDERS PARKER, AGE 65, OF BEDFORD, VA departed this life on Thursday, July 7, 2011at Bedford Memorial Hospital. She was born November 13, 1945 to the late Nellie Thompson Saunders and Elder Curtis Saunders. In addition to her mother, she is also preceded in death by two sisters, Rosa Saunders and Mary Coles. Irene was a longtime member of Pure Gospel Holiness Church of God in Christ in Bedford where she served faithfully as a Missionary and Usher. She often visited the local Nursing Homes giving her testimony and sharing the word with the patients. She was a graduate of Susie Gibson High School and she retired from Sam Moore Furniture in Bedford, VA after many years of service. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends. Those left to cherish her memory are her husband, Samuel L. Parker, her father, Elder Curtis Saunders, both of Bedford, VA; two sisters, Evangelist Fannie (Thomas) Lee and Sally Saunders, both of Bedford, VA; brother-in-law, Lorenza Coles, Sr., of Bedford, VA, sister-in-law, Katherine Brown of Bedford, VA, two uncles, Elder Lynwood Saunders and Tony Thompson, both of Washington, D.C., one aunt, Valerie Saunders of Baltimore, MD, and a host of loving nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.