Obituary of Sammy Lee Simpson

Sam was born 30 December 1956 in St Louis, MO and passed away 1 January 2011 at his home in Tacoma. He is survived by his loving wife of 10 years, Susannah, 10 siblings (Eddie Don Byrd, Virginia Hanks, Clara Sue Hart, Wanda Blevins, Leonard Wayne Byrd, Peggy Fay Morgan, Bryan Simpson, Darrell Simpson, Richard Ray Simpson and Larry Joe Simpson), Best Friend Robert Culver and numerous extended family members and friends. He was greeted in heaven by his Mother, Dorothy Ruth Lenderman; his Father, Sammy Bryan Simpson, His step-father Dallas Croft, and his daughter Melissa who passed away on Christmas day 2010. He was born into a very large, close family and was one of the youngest. Right from the start he had to assert himself in order to be heard. This is a trait he carried with him his whole life. As a child he was known to be mischievous, rambunctious, and frequently aggravating, but he did all of this with a very honed sense of humor and Love. He was the first one to take a dare and was fearless. He enjoyed playing practical jokes, being a dare-devil and playing "superman!" He grew up in Paragould, AR and joined the military when he was 19 years old. He served his country proudly for 22 years in the US Army serving in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm, 7 years in Germany, and a tour at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. During his service he was a Tank commander, Maintenance Officer and Quality Control Inspector. Immediately after he retired in 1997 he went to work for Dimensions International at Fort Hood, TX and continued to serve soldiers traveling the world teaching them how to operate and maintain their new equipment. In 1999 he came to Fort Lewis as the Team Chief of Honeywell Technologies, having his own team of Instructors and maintainers. Sam was a Fun-Loving jokester, a little rough around the edges. He didn't always take care of himself, but he always took care of those around him. He was a hopeless romantic who enjoyed making people smile and laugh. He was an extremely thoughtful friend and neighbor who many turned to for advice and assistance. He truly believed in the philosophy of random acts of kindness and would anonymously pay for peoples groceries or coffee. He loved holidays and for Easter and Christmas would leave baskets of goodies for neighbors and others he found to be in need. If he knew you were in need of a smile, you might have found yourself as the recipient of some little token left on your porch or in your car. More than once he stopped the car in order to give a homeless person his coat, some cash or his much loved Kentucky Fried Chicken. He was a sentimental fool and was always embarrassed to be caught with a tear in his eye while watching one of his favorite old movies. He Loved God, Country, Bonanza re-runs and Beer. He was a lifetime member of the VFW Post 969.