First impressions:
I first met Joe in 1979 when I was a student at MSU. I walked to his house after discussing caving opportunities with him over the phone. I entered his house from the door next to the dinning room. There was Joe eating a pot of stew with a big wood spoon. We talked about caving while he worked his way down to the bottom of the pot. We then went to his map room where he had many maps of caves and topo maps with secret digs and cave entrances. That was the start of a friendship that involved many cave trips and digging trips.

Lasting memories:
He sure liked to dig. Eventually Joe started to dig a basement under a part of his house that had a crawl space. This was mostly done to keep in shape for the digging trips in Kentucky. Naturally, he was digging the basement with a trowel and hauling the dirt in a small plastic wash tub through a hole in the crawl space wall. I thought about doing that at my house but everyone would think I was crazy. Not with Joe. This kind of activity is almost expected from him.

Joe was one of the most dedicated cavers that I know. In fact he was dedicated and passionate about everything that he was doing including his family, work, caving, and church. He was very inquisitive. I enjoyed the scientific discussions I had with Joe. With caving he continually was trying to determine the flow characteristics of the cave systems in an effort to find the continuation of passages. Since he was Mr. Base level he frequently was stopped by a sump or collapse in the exploration of passages. He was good at determining which crawlway side passages were overflow routs for the water to bypass a constriction. This talent led to many good discoveries. The most notable discovery that I can remember with Joe was when he my brother Jim and I discovered Thunder River by exploring overflow routes off of the upper end of Stinky River.

The trips down to Kentucky in Joes old green Dodge Dart are memorable, and so was sleeping in the field house. Now that was a snore. Joe was an early riser. I think he was a farmer at heart. Even after traveling for half the night he was up seemingly at the crack of dawn ready to get the caving day started. I found his methods of getting the others up and going in the morning very funny. Do you remember his long high pitched yawns that could be heard across the field? Or those size 14, or whatever size they were, shoes stomping back and forth on the field house floors and porch? I do. I never did hear any complaints, just a few groans and snorts.

Joe sure had a hot body. No not that. He could cave in 55 degree water with only coveralls on him for many hours and not be cold as long as the back of his shoulders did not get wet. It was common to see a water line somewhere on Joe's chest. A number of times in dry passages I had to pour water down his back to cool him off. The rest of us tried to avoid water like cats, unless getting wet was inevitable. Because of the heat Joe didn't mind moving at a slower pace. This made Joe a good photography partner. He did not mind taking the time to set up some good photo shots and was very helpful. I am thankful that I was able to experience many enjoyable caving trips with Joe.

I will miss Joe. He was a great addition to our group, and a very unique person. We will never replace Joe Saunders.