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<DIV>Ron,</DIV>
<DIV>Thanks for sending this to us. I knew Sam back in the old Rossi days when I
was flying pattern. Sam was one of the nicest people you would ever meet. He
would do anything to help you and would literally give you the shirt off his
back. Sam was always inventing some new gadget for us to use and was a
huge pattern supporter.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It saddens me to hear the loss of a great friend.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Oscar</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 11/16/2011 10:37:13 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
vanputte@cox.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>Many of
you knew Sam and I'm passing this on to you.
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Ron Van Putte</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
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<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Arial" size=3
face=Arial>It is with great sorrow I report to you a dear and old friend
since I was 15 years old has passed away. It is my understanding that
Sam passed away in Tennessee with his older half brother at his side
September 8th 2011 at a local hospice at age 62. I have been trying to
track Sam down for the last year and stumbled upon his younger brothers
web site. Ronnie gave me his phone number and I tried a few times
leaving messages for Sam and he never returned the calls, he was very
sick. Ronnie mentioned that Sam had had a VERY rough time the last three
years. It seems he got married then divorced, his house went into
foreclosure and had complete kidney failure. I surmise knowing Sam (Rai
as the ones very close to him and I knew him) his health was the issue
that caused this series of unfortunate events. It is also my
understanding he was awaiting a kidney transplant and did not make it in
time. Ronnie also mentioned his remains were cremated.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Arial" size=3
face=Arial>When I was about 15 years old I had been involved in r/c for
about 2 years and was having a tough time with success in the hobby with
no locale guidance. Sam and his family moved in across the street from
me in Pembroke Pines Florida from Pensacola Florida when I was about 15
years old (1968). Sam was going to FSU and was about 19 years old. He of
course was flying R/C also with some success using tube radio systems.
Obviously we hit it off as friends rite away. His dad (Herschel) was the
new Chief Controller at North Perry Airport in the heyday of student
flight training which I was also doing. My dad was also a pilot so we
all had a lot in common.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Arial" size=3
face=Arial>In my heart I feel that Sam deserved an ending so much better
than this. He has gone through many years of personal suffering that
many of his friends in the R/C world never knew. I have always thought
of him almost every day of my life and what kind of good kind person he
was and the deep friendship bond we had when we were youngsters in a cow
pasture flying models.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Arial" size=3
face=Arial>Sincerely,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Arial" size=3
face=Arial>Mark Anton</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Arial" size=3
face=Arial>(386) 205-6027</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT style="FONT: 12px Arial" size=3
face=Arial>Lake City,
Florida</FONT></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>=<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>NSRCA-discussion
mailing
list<BR>NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org<BR>http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>