7460861907.jpg &&& WEATHERFORD — Joe M. Saunders Jr.’s dance card was full on Thursday nights.Mr. Saunders and his wife, Linda, had a standing date on Thursdays — they went to the American Legion in Mineral Wells for some country-Western dancing. Two-stepping to the likes of Bob Wills was a tradition for the couple, who met at the Stagecoach Ballroom in Fort Worth in the late 1990s."Dancing and traveling those were his two big things besides family," said Linda Saunders, describing cherished memories of their almost 11-year marriage. The couple’s journeys included trips to the Big Bend region, the Bahamas and Alaska.Mr. Saunders died Dec. 8 of leukemia. He was 79. He was given full military honors Friday at his interment at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery in Grand Prairie.Family members said he will be remembered as a loving, caring man who enjoyed life and was protective of his daughters."He always said we were his whole life, and we believed that," said his daughter Shauna Saunders of Mineral Wells.Mr. Saunders was a retired Army chief warrant officer and a veteran of the Korean War. He was born in 1929 in Austin, where his family and ancestors had deep roots — one of his family reunions there dated back to May 1892. He graduated from Austin High School in 1948 and was a lifelong fan of the University of Texas Longhorns.Mr. Saunders learned how to pilot helicopters after joining the National Guard.In 1964, Mr. Saunders moved to Mineral Wells, where he worked as an instructor pilot for the Army Primary Helicopter School at Fort Wolters. He trained American and South Vietnamese pilots at that facility.When Fort Wolters closed in 1973, Mr. Saunders worked for Petroleum Helicopters, a job in which he flew workers to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.Later, Mr. Saunders worked for the Texas National Guard as a helicopter technician/test pilot. He retired from the Guard in 1991.Shauna Saunders said his helicopter expertise had a place in some historic moments. He worked a security detail when President Gerald Ford visited Texas. His task was to fly above the motorcade.A plane crash site on the Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch in the Hill Country resulted in an invitation for coffee from Johnson — before he became president, Shauna Saunders said. "He’s had a very colorful life," she said of her father.Mr. Saunders’ survivors also include another daughter, Suzie Saunders Taylor, and a stepdaughter, Leslie Phillips. Memorials Memorial contributions can be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 8111 Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, Suite 425, Dallas, Texas, 75251-9918.