Recollections from many Old Girls detailing how Mrs. Saunders impacted their
life as headmistress (1968-1974) continue to pour in on social media as other tributes flow in for this remarkable educator whose service to the country spanned five decades. Mrs. Saunders died on March 16, 2017. Her legacy is enshrined at SAHS in the Fay Saunders Counselling Center which was renovated and named in her honour in 2015.
The Jamaica Teacher’s Association paid tribute to her service as general secretary and her being the first female JTA president – she had two presidential terms. She was the JTA said “a trailblazer in several ways and can best be described as a phenomenal woman. She will be sadly missed and will remain as one of the JTA’s pioneer leaders at a time when females were not at the forefront of 
union leadership. May her soul find rest,” the JTA said in a release.
The Senate honoured her with a minute’s silence in the upper house , paying tribute to her service as senator and parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Education.
Mr Peter Phillips, Opposition finance spokesman, in his tribute letter to the Gleaner editor, cited Fay Saunders as “an outstanding educator and exemplary patriot” whom he was fortunate to have as a mentor. She brought exceptionally high standards and deep personal commitment to a life of public service and provides present and future generations with an example worthy of emulation, he said.
Watch the Emrie James Museum interview with Mrs. Saunders.