Samuel Howard Lindsey

Samuel Howard Lindsey, of Waco, and former resident of Kosse, passed away Tuesday, April 10, 2012, at Hillcrest Hospital, at age 91. Visitation will be Friday, April 13, 2012, from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. at the Groesbeck Funeral Home. Services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, April 14, 2012, at the Church of Christ in Kosse, with Brother Jimmy Phillips and Brother Floyd Stanley officiating. Burial will follow in the Kosse City Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Jon Sullivan, Ralph Tolander, Efrain Saenz, Andrew Roberts, Clayton Moore, and Trey Sullivan. Honorary pallbearers will be Robert O’Neal and Bradley Milstead. Sam was born June 6, 1920 in Farwell, New Mexico to William Howard Lindsey and Effie Ola Cheney Lindsey. He grew up on the Texas-New Mexico border, where he attended school at West Camp (which was a community on the west portion of the XIT Ranch.) Living in Lubbock in 1941, he met his sister’s roommate, Mozelle Billington, and they were united in marriage on April 12, 1941. In 1942, Sam was drafted into the U.S. Navy, where he served through 1945. He spent his World War II service on the U.S.S. Darke where he was a radioman, setting up beach communications behind the marines landing on the shore. He landed on both Iwo Jima and Okinawa, which were significant battle sites in the Pacific Theater. After the war, Sam began his lifetime career in the furniture business as a salesman for Montgomery Ward in Raton, N.M. He and his wife lived most of their life in Houston, where he worked for Suniland Furniture Company and became the sales manager. Later they moved to Conroe where he opened Lindsey Galleries, a fine furniture boutique. They retired from the furniture business and moved to a ranch in Kosse in 1986. He raised cattle and helped develop MeadowCreek Park Equestrian Center, building miles of fence and mowing a lot of grass through the years. He became a part of the Kosse community getting to know everyone while operating a feed store out of the back of Rasco’s Grocery from 1987 through 1992. Sam was a charter member of the Kosse Lions Club and served as their second president. He was a member of the Church of Christ in Kosse, where he taught Bible School. Sam was baptized in Raton, New Mexico in 1948, and later served as an elder while living in Houston and also in Conroe. His faith was an important part of his life, and he enjoyed studying the Bible and Bible History. A few years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey made their final retirement move to the Ridgecrest Retirement Center in Waco. Sam was preceded in death by his parents; his two brothers, Joe Lindsey and Jack Lindsey and sister, Addie Lee Bennack; and his wife Mozelle Lindsey, in 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Pam and Murray Sullivan of Southlake; son and daughter-in-law, Sam Jr. and Jodye Lindsey of Hilltop Lakes; grandson, Jon Sullivan and wife Nannette of Ft. Worth; four granddaughters: Tanya Tolander and husband Ralph of Missouri City, Marlo Saenz and husband Efrain of Houston, Ashley Roberts and husband Andrew of Houston, and Miranda Moore and husband Clayton of Groesbeck; nine great grandchildren: Hailey Humphries of Dallas, Trey Sullivan of Ft. Worth, Preston Tolander of Missouri City, Jarred Tolander of Missouri City, Emma Saenz of Houston, Elizabeth Saenz of Houston, Graham Roberts of Houston, Annabelle Moore of Groesbeck, and Sam Moore of Groesbeck; and three great-great grandchildren.