Rosalyn Lane McMurray Saunders, a writer, photographer, mother, grandmother, lover of children, and lifelong observer of the beauty in God’s world, went to be with the Lord on Friday, August 14, 2026, at the age of 70. Lane died in Fayetteville, Georgia, while visiting her children and grandchildren – exactly where she loved to be.

Known as Lane to most, Momma to her children, Aunt Lane to generations of family, and Patty to her grandchildren and many others who loved her as a grandmother, she loved her family fiercely. Her beloved husband Tom, who preceded her in death in 2021, called her Susie when they first met and during the early years of their marriage. She called him Chief. After more than five years apart, her family takes comfort in believing that she has gone home to be with the Lord and is with her Chief once more.

Lane was born April 1, 1956, in Roanoke, Alabama, to James Leonard McMurray and Rosalyn Handley Lane McMurray. She grew up in Randolph County and attended Handley High School, where she played trumpet in the band. That trumpet remains in the family and is still being played three generations later – a fitting reflection of Lane’s love of family history and the connections between generations.

She followed her mother to Wesleyan College, where she earned a degree in English. Lane had a lifelong love of words, books, photography, design, and storytelling, talents that eventually led her to Russell Corporation. She joined The Russell Record in 1979 as an editorial assistant, where she met its Editor in Chief, Thomas Byron Saunders, Sr., the great love of her life.

Tom and Lane married in 1981 and spent four decades building a family and life together while working side-by-side for much of their careers. Through the final publication of The Russell Record in 2006, they shared a love of writing, photography, history, and storytelling.

Lane and Tom were blessed with three children: Thomas Byron Saunders, Jr., Rosalyn Louise Saunders, and Stewart McMurray Saunders. Lane is survived by her sons, Thomas Byron Saunders, Jr. (Ashley) and Stewart McMurray Saunders; her grandchildren, Thomas Alexander Saunders, Emerson Reid Saunders, and Rosalyn Handley Elizabeth Saunders; her brothers, Thomas Anglin McMurray II (Fran), Dr. Paul Augustus McMurray (Debbie), and James Leonard McMurray; and her beloved dog, Penelope Grace.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Thomas Byron Saunders, Sr.; and their beloved daughter, Rosalyn Louise “Rosie” Saunders, who died in 2002 at the age of 17.

The loss of Rosie left a wound that never completely healed, and the loss of Tom nearly nineteen years later created another deep emptiness in Lane’s life. Yet grief never diminished her capacity to love. She remained devoted to her family, particularly her grandchildren, brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, great-nephews and great-nieces. There was very little she would not rearrange if one of her grandchildren had a concert, ballgame, ceremony, birthday, or simply needed their Patty. Her nieces, nephews, and their children knew that same love, and many of them regarded her much like another grandmother.

Before leaving The Russell Record, Lane shared her love of reading with the students at Jim Pearson Elementary School as a volunteer reader, continuing that work as she transitioned into working there as an aide for several years after her time at Russell. She later worked for several years at Harbor Learning Academy, where her affection for children and delight in their curiosity and humor were a natural fit. After Tom’s death, she eventually retired to her family home in Roanoke.

There, Lane devoted much of her time to family, writing, photography, reading, gardening, and observing the natural world around her.

Her tea was sweet with real sugar, her Southern smile was genuine, and her infectious laugh would set off a cascading symphony of laughter at family gatherings. She loved family heirlooms and dressed her tables with them as though royalty were coming to dinner. She loved old books, poetry, history, Scripture, Westerns, black-and-white family sitcoms, photographs, and quotations gathered from almost anywhere.

She also had an extraordinary affection for nature. Lane knew the birds at her feeders, watched the squirrels in the yard, planted flowers and vegetables, studied insects, photographed sunsets, and took an interest in nearly every creature that ventured near her porch. Many of them eventually received names, including Balthazar the king snake and Fatty the squirrel.

Lane had a gift for seeing wonder in the ordinary, everyday things that most of us so often overlook.

In the later years of her life, she brought those interests together through her almost-daily writing at Ponderings from the Porch Swing on LoquaciousLane.com. From her front porch swing in Roanoke, she wrote about family, faith, nature, grief, hope, history, poetry, and the small moments of everyday life. A sunrise might lead her to Lord Byron, a cardinal to Scripture, or a flower growing in an unlikely place to a lesson about perseverance.

For Lane, the beauty of creation was inseparable from the Creator. She loved the Lord deeply and saw evidence of His presence everywhere – in sunsets, birds, flowers, insects, wind through the trees, and the changing colors of the sky. All of creation was, to her, a glimpse of God’s majesty and of the greater Kingdom still to come.

Remarkably, those were also among the last thoughts she ever put to paper.

On Thursday, August 13, the final full day of her life, Lane traveled to Georgia to visit her grandchildren and attended her granddaughter Handley’s first volleyball game. That evening she wrote the her final Pondering from the Porch Swing, reflecting on the beauty of the sky, the unfairness and wonder of life, hope, courage, and faith in God.

She wrote that “life is a glorious journey we travel and we need to appreciate each day,” and reflected that even in life’s struggles, God remains with us and His hands are always there to catch us when we stumble.

The post was published the following morning, August 14, 2026 – the day Lane died.

Whether she somehow sensed that her earthly journey was nearing its end, none of us can know. But read now, her final words have the quiet beauty of a benediction. She ended that final post reflecting on being safe within God’s keeping and being drawn to His side.

And then she went home to meet our Lord, face-to-face.

Those who loved Lane will miss her laugh, her stories, her photographs, her porch ponderings, her collection of quotations, her fierce concern for her family, and knowing that most evenings in Roanoke she was sitting in her porch swing watching the evening light move through the trees as Father Sky painted a fresh and unique watercolor masterpiece across the heavens.

Her family takes comfort in the faith she expressed throughout her life – that God is ever faithful and steadfast in His love – and in believing that she has been reunited with her parents, her precious Rosie, her beloved Chief, and so many others who went before her.

What a glorious homecoming it must have been in Heaven.

Visitation will be held Monday, August 17, 2026, from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. at Radney Funeral Home in Alexander City, Alabama. A graveside service will follow at 11:00 a.m. at the Dark Family Cemetery on Old Dark Road in Alexander City, where Lane will be laid to rest beside Tom and Rosie.

A Memorial Celebration honoring Lane’s life will be held later that afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at First Methodist Church in Roanoke, Alabama.

All service times are Central Daylight Time.

Pallbearers will be Gus McMurray, Will McMurray, James McMurray, Heath Horn, Derrick Knight, Nathaniel Pike, Benjamin Pike, and Braxton Ewing.

The family will accept flowers or donations in Lane’s memory to the Children’s Miracle Network at Wellstar Golisano Children’s Hospital of Georgia, 1446 Harper Street, BT 1845, Augusta, GA 30912.