Samuel Troy Sauls

Samuel Troy Sauls, of Kosse, passed away at Limestone Medical Center, on Thursday, November 11, 2010, at age 81. A MEMORIAL SERVICE WILL BE HELD SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2010, AT 4:00 P.M., AT THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF KOSSE, WITH REVEREND MILTON WOODALL OFFICIATING, AND WITH MILITARY HONORS. Sam was born on April 19, 1929, in Winder, Georgia, to Walter and Nancy Alma Sauls. He grew up and graduated from High School there, and then entered the U.S. Air Corps (which later became the Air Force) in 1947. He was a flight engineer, and participated in the Berlin Air Lift. He had a twenty-year career in the Air Force, retiring in 1967, as a Technical Sergeant. Sam was united in marriage with Francine Williamson, in 1949, and they had two sons, Wynn and Keith Sauls. Although the marriage ended a few years later, they and all their children have remained family and lifelong friends. In 1957, one month after their first blind date, Sam and Margaret Klien were married in Shreveport, LA. The family included Margaret’s four children, Bobby, Brenda, Bill and JoAnn, and the two children born to Sam and Margaret were Sam, Jr. and “Baby Girl” Nancy. While in the Air Force, Sam was also a professional photographer, with a studio in Macon, GA. After he retired from the military, the family moved back to his hometown, then lived various other places before settling in Gainsville, GA. He had many interests and occupations, including managing a department store, commercial truck driver, and a corrections officer. His hobbies included woodworking, photography, building and flying remote control airplanes with his sons, greenhouses, and growing plants. However, his greatest love was the Lord, his family and his country. Sam was a faithful member of the North Lake Baptist Church in Gainsville and loved all his fellow members. He was faithful to God and his church, and he always passed out tracts to people everywhere he went with the desire to share God’s love with them. Sam and Margaret moved to Kosse about five years ago to live near their daughter, and he was a faithful member thereafter of the First Baptist Church of Kosse. Mr. Sauls was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Ora Hall; a son, Robert “Bobby” Guree; and a granddaughter, Kitty. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Margaret Sauls, of Kosse; son, Bill Guree and wife Chris of Deluth, GA; son, Keith Sauls of Commerce, GA; son, Wynn Sauls and wife Dawn of Commerce, GA; son, Sam Sauls, Jr. and wife Donna of Dahlonega, GA; daughter, Brenda Berkholtz of San Antonio; daughter, JoAnn Sauls of Kosse; and daughter (“Baby Girl”) Nancy LaGrone and husband Mike of Kosse; fourteen grandchildren (and their spouses), Jordan, Shauna, Brandy, Keith, Darren, Gladys, Rita, Craig, Laura, Michael, Shelly, Jason, Shane, and Max; twenty-two great grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren; a brother, Hoyt Sauls of Winder, GA; and many beloved extended family members.