On September 11, 2008 our industry lost one of its giants.  Bill Saunders, Co-Founder of Re/Max Results  passed away after a 10+ year battle with colon cancer.  He is survived by his wife, Vicki, his son, Marshall and thousands of people whose lives he has touched over the years.  I am blessed to say that my life was one that he had a profound impact on.

I attended Bill’s memorial service this week on Wednesday and I felt compelled to write about this man not because he and I were particularly close, but because of the enormous respect that I have for him. 

Many people got up to speak of their experiences with Bill, how he helped them in some way, or just the way he made them feel like they were the most important person in the room.  He certainly had the effect on me.  5 year ago, when I got into the Real Estate business, I interviewed with Bill at his firm – Re/Max Results.  I immediately knew that was where I wanted to work and joined that day.  Bill instilled such confidence in me (and all the agents who worked at his firm).  I knew that I was in the right place to begin my career.

Over my 4 years at Re/Max Results, I had various interactions with Bill.  The one that I want to share is my last one.  I had made a bad Real Estate investment in a condo project downtown Minneapolis and I was telling Bill all about it in an informal discussion.  He asked me what my plans were and I had shared with him that I was going to a meeting the next day with the developer to find out what was going on, and to find out if there was an opportunity to work with him to turn the project around.

Bill immediately said, “Tom, I will clear my schedule and go with you.”  When I asked him, why – he said, “well, clearly you could use some help with this one and I am interested in learning more about this…” (referring to the particular project which had made quite a bit of news).

So, the next day he picked me up at the office in Edina and drove me to the meeting.  On our way in, he told me that he would do most of the talking.  I smiled and felt so much better that he was there.  So, we had the meeting.  Of course it didn’t get me anywhere as I am still involved with it.  Afterwards, he looked at me…with kind of a sorrowful grin and informed me that I was indeed screwed.  We had a good laugh and then he said, “Tom, you will get past this one.  We all make mistakes.  I bet you’ll never buy another condo. J”

This may not seem like a great story but what you have to understand is this; (and it truly illustrates this man’s legacy) – Bill Saunders and his business partner owned and operated one of the most successful Re/Max franchises in the US and certainly the most successful one in the State of Minnesota.  He had (at the time) around 500 agents working there.  To say the least, Bill was a very busy individual.  The fact that he took the time to help someone that he didn’t know particularly well shows the measure of his character.  And boy, did he have character. 

On Wednesday – at his memorial service – there had to be around 1000 people in attendance, the majority of which were Realtors ™.  The service lasted for over two hours, people listened intently to those who were speaking and none of them were on their phones, or texting on their Blackberry devices, etc.  Think about that for a minute…this man was so respected that he was able to keep 750+ real estate agents off their phones for over two hours…that is no small feet. 

All of the stories people shared at the service were great, but the thing that stuck with me the most was this; one of his friends of thirty years said that Bill once told him about the three most important things in life:

1. To love
2. To be loved
3. To have people speak kindly of you…and one more thing…
4. PRADA – (you had to know Bill to get this one)

Clearly, Bill exemplified these treasures.  What an example he has given us as to how to conduct our lives.  So – thanks Bill.  Thanks for the lessons and good advice.  Thanks for your help.  Thanks for your friendship.  I will certainly strive to live my life in the same manner in which you have lived yours. 

 

Bill Saunders Obituary

This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 10:35 am and is filed under In the News, Real Estate, Twin City Treasures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.