Samuel Grover Powers

Samuel Grover Powers

SANTA FE - Samuel Grover Powers; lifelong resident of Santa Fe, TX passed away Sunday, January 3rd at the age of 79.

Sam was an active Master Gardener with many years experience growing rare fruit and citrus. He was also a volunteer fireman for the Arcadia Volunteer Fire Dept. for many years.

Sam is survived by his wife of 54 years, Ginger Powers, 2 daughters, Linda Moody of Rosenberg and Renee Ellis of Comfort, TX. He also has two nieces, Shelby Johnson of Katy and Erin McGraw of Missouri City.

Visitation will be held from 5-8pm on Wednesday, January 6th at Hayes Funeral Home in Santa Fe, TX.

Funeral services will be held at Hayes Funeral Home at 10am on Thursday, January 7th.

 

Ode to Mr. Sam

Everyone knew him as Sam, Sammy, Mr. Sam or, for those who worked with him for many years at Amoco Chemical, Soothing Sam. We just knew him as Daddy. He was a slight figure who was larger than life. He took no guff and you dare not cross him, but we never knew him to be anything other than generous with his time and knowledge and love. Daddy was humble and quiet, not one to talk about himself, but if you were sneaky and persistent, you could get him to tell some great stories on himself and share stories of things he did before we came along. He had a "mean" streak a mile wide and loved nothing better than to tease people and make them think he was serious when he really was just playing.  As a family we worked in the garden, volunteered at the local fire department and did odd jobs around the house-like drilling water wells by hand. As kids, he kept us busy with 4-H and FFA and he was always up early in the morning to load the truck with rabbit or chicken pens when we headed out for a show. His voice would resound down the hall as he slung open our bedroom doors, switch on the light and yell "Reveille, reveille, rise and shine. Wake up snake and bite a biscuit". To this day, Linda and I have no idea where the "snake and biscuit" part came from. As we became adults, Daddy was always there to answer questions about carpentry, vehicle repair, work issues, spouse issues and gardening issues. The older we became the smarter Daddy became. He loved being a Master Gardener and it was truly a passion for him. He loved the challenge of grafting and growing exotic fruit and loved learning new things. He valued the companionship and friends he made as a Master Gardener and enjoyed the visible results from his labor of love. We know that the path to the Pearly Gates will soon be lined with many varieties of rare fruit and citrus trees. We hope that the squirrels and raccoons all went to Hell and not Heaven. 
So, Mr. Sam, go forth and graft..............we all love you and miss you. You were the best.
He earned his love through discipline-- a thundering, velvet hand
His gentle means of sculpting souls took us years to understand
We thank you for the kindness and the times when you got tough
And, papa, we don't think we've said 'We love you' near enough
(adapted from Dan Fogelberg "Leader of the Band")

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