Received an email yesterday from Pantea (didn't open until now) that one of our local Ferrari enthusiasts has passed away. Sam was a good guy and always happy and pleasurable to be around.
From the FCA DFW email: I always hope to start out our weekly emails with announcing a Ferrari win or a fun event or some exciting news and it is with the heaviest heart that I deliver news today of the passing of one of our dearest friends, long time FCA Dallas member and sitting member the FCA DFW board of directors, Sam Jones. As someone who is typically paid for being good with their words, I'll apologize upfront because nothing I can say here today will do our friend Sam justice. He was one of those friends that you find once in a lifetime. The storyteller of our group who never failed to recount a story one often thought was too good, too funny or too outrageous to be true, but to know Sam was to know it was just as he told it. He never missed a good punchline or failed to deliver one. He was a friend you could always count on, but even more so a friend that was there for you when you never expected it. I know many of you could write something probably much more meaningful than I can today about our friend; I feel I completely fail in the task and yet am simultaneously honored to be the one able to do so here. As the news of his sudden and unexpected passing spread via social media I can't tell you how many people reached out to me (not just from his inner circle of friends but from those he touched along the years) to recount a special memory or to tell me of how he never missed the opportunity to with them a happy birthday or check in on them when they least expected just to say hello or remind them of how special they were. Sam served on the BOD for many many years and helped provide us with all of the news stories in our weekly emails, among many other events and responsibilities he stepped up for. Personally, he was one of few friends who checked in on me constantly during my illness and it was never just a "how ya doin" but it was sincere and it was heartfelt. I don't know how to capture Sam any better in words than to simply end this saying he was the best story teller, the best jokester, the best lover of a beautiful woman, the best friend; the best guy to call on when you needed his help, needed a shoulder, needed an ear or needed a good laugh. Sam, we miss you dearly and your place in our lives will not soon, if ever, be filled. Rest easy friend. ------------------------------------------------------- From Jim F , the gentleman that was with Sam at the time: I see a lot of "what happened?" This will answer that question and relate how much Sam LOVED this annual Fat Tire Charity Ride we started doing 3 years ago. It is essentially a bar crawl on bikes. Sam was a big fan of bicycles before he could drive. Before 2022 he had not been on a bike since 1978. With the release of the ebike, the fun of a bike ride was open again to him and he looked forward to it each year. The ride, if you complete it, is roughly 23.5 miles around the lake. We had a GREAT day. Fantastic weather, fun "Sam"-like conversations, meeting people, good music, and lots of laughs. We made 6 stops with big breaks. We had lunch (BACON grilled cheese of course) at stop 4. We had such a good seat at the last stop in the shade and near the great music that I offered to just finish there. He said he was good and wanted to finish it and get to the pig roast, so we headed off on the final leg from Como to Lake Geneva. Having the ebike he always shot way ahead on the uphills. On the downhill stretch along Dodge St into LG I saw a group gathered on the side giving aide to someone. It was Sam! He was on the ground and a nurse (another rider who had stopped) was already doing chest compressions. A neighbor had heard him go down and rushed off her porch telling her husband to call 911. Sam got immediate attention from these good Samaritans. EMTs arrived quickly and took over but despite amazing effort could never get him back. He never had a pulse, was never responsive, and no brain activity. Thus it was a catastrophic event (heart attack or aneurysm) where he went without pain or suffering. My watch said we were exactly 23 miles in... almost there. There was no crash, head trama, pothole, bike failure, or drunkeness. Just an awful, terrible WTF how-can-this-happen ending to a great day where he was having the time of his life being a "kid" riding a bike and going fast. He loved this ride and I am blessed to have had this day with him. Even more blessed to have the most loyal, stand up in my wedding, Uncle Sam to my kids, since 7th grade kind of friend. I love you, Sam. Catch you on the next lap.
I can say from direct experience you may feel fine and actually be on the edge of a catastrophic event. Go to the doctor very regularly and get checked out with great detail. Find a doctor that wants to get to know you and actually wants to figure out what may be behind the smallest of odd findings.
That’s the crazy part…Sam had a physical in mid August and a colonoscopy on Friday 8/23 and as he put it “a good result” from all the tests and he felt great. That weekend we talked/texted several times especially about the F1 race. I called him Wednesday 8/28 to see if he wanted to come to our lakehouse Saturday or Sunday and he told me he had Covid and felt really bad. We continued to talk/text several times over the next few days and he said he was feeling much better. He left for his two week vacation on the 11th, was planning to be home on the 25th, and we had lunch plans for Thursday the 26th. I talked to him Friday afternoon (9/20) and we exchanged several text messages/memes that day, and then everything changed on Saturday evening 9/21. Damn it…I miss him!
I've realized that Sam was lucky. He was doing something he loved and having "the time of his life". What a great way to go. No long drawn-out illness, no fading away into obscurity. No losing faculties. Just done. In many ways I hope I'm that lucky.
