Joseph W. Saunder's caving career spanned over 30 years, focusing mainly in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Maryland. Joe epitomized the 'career caver', pursuing his caving interests with the same dedication and enthusiasm he devoted to his professional career. A Fellow of the National Speleological Society (NSS) and a Lew Bicking award winner for his dedication to cave exploration, Joe was recognized by a generation of cavers for his caving excellence and contribution.

Joe has many hundreds of publications to his name, with topics ranging from basic cave sciences (hydrology, geology, glacial influences on caves), to basic caving techniques (exploration, equipment and surveying). Joe has surveyed and published hundreds of cave maps with accompanying descriptions, and was a major contributor in several large 'project caves', including the 102 mile Fisher Ridge Cave System in Kentucky. Joe was also an accomplished conference speaker, sharing the podium with such caving luminaries as Dr. Jim Quinlin and Dr. Arthur Palmer.

On a lighter side, Joe delighted in exploring caves for recreation. He developed a board game called, appropriately, “The Cave Game”, which consisted of a hexagonal board, the objective of which was to explore as much cave as possible given a limited amount of resources. He also was an avid writer of cave fiction, and often camped overnight in caves to find inspiration. On one occasion, he swore he saw two ancient miners walking with candle-lanterns in hand up the passages of Hestor's Cave in Kentucky. Joe also subscribed to local newspapers in the regions where he explored caves, to better understand 'the local interests.' He would spend days digging at potential cave entrances with local farmers, sharing his caving stories, and their lives.

Most importantly, Joe influenced a generation of cavers. The caving world would never be the same. Joe was always willing to give of himself, taking the time to share his experience and knowledge with all whom he met. He drove over 12 hours to meet and befriend two Seventh Day Adventists in Pine Mountain, Kentucky after reading their pamphlet on “the creationist view of cave formation”, and he took into his care a young West Virginia farmer, Ronnie Jones, who had a small cave on his farm. Ronnie later grew into a key contributor in Kentucky surveying. Joe's spirit of adventure and discovery are still alive in many of his friends.

Joe was a stickler for order and precision in the caving universe. What caver selecting a survey letter for a passage will not now stop and think of the passage name (eg., PP for Persistence Passage, HTS for the Harry S. Truman memorial dig)? Who can deny the importance of survey statistics (eg, the batting average) for long project caves which can span decades and tax even the most hardened cavers? These we inherited from Joe. Perhaps even more inspirational, though, was Joe's mantra to 'just get out there' and to make it happen. Caving doesn't happen in an armchair, and Joe has nurtured a generation of cavers still out there and making it happen. God bless Joseph W. Saunders and his enduring legacy.