Sam Huddleston passed away on January 11, 2016 at the age of 72. He was a talented man who had many jobs over his lifetime, including working at a country club, as a milkman, doing property inspections, managing restaurants, and driving buses for over 13 years before retiring. He was known for his big smile and mischievous personality. Sam loved to cook barbecue and greens, play tennis, sing in his church choir, and call his family every day. He had been married to his wife Earline for almost 22 years and is survived by her, his two children, two grandchildren, three sisters and many other loving relatives.

1. He ended this worldly journey
to walk amongst other angels,
side by side with God.
So celebrate this perfectly
imperfect, worldly man,
Last name Huddleston, first name
Sam.
December 2, 1943 - January 11, 2016
Sam
Sam
As you’re reading this, please know
that there’s no reason to cry.
I am finally pain-free so you can dry your eyes.
I knew the Lord, so now I’m at heaven’s door.
No more struggling to walk because the clouds are my floor.
No more weight on my shoulders, trying to keep things together.
These wings up on my back, got me feeling light as a feather.
Mourn me with your heads high,
although your hearts may be heavy,
knowing that in the end, I was not scared of death
and I knew I was ready,
to end this worldly journey, although that may sound odd,
and walk amongst other angels, side by side with God.
So celebrate this perfectly imperfect, worldly man,
Last name Huddleston, first name Sam.
Ferrell Kyles, Nephew-in-Law
THANK YOU
To all who have treated us with love and kindness, we thank you.
We have laughed and cried together as we remember Sam. We ask
that you keep us in your hearts and prayers as we continue this
difficult journey. - Sam’s Family
PALLBEARERS
LaGrande T. Huddleston Roberto C. Huddleston
Robert T. Hawthorne Damon Kyles
Ferrell Kyles Samuel H. Huddleston II
Samuel Huddleston III Howlette C. Huddleston
Gregory Crues Tevin Roper
HONORARY PALLBEARERS
Paul Huddleston Sherman A. Hawthorne
Howlette L. Huddleston Marvin D. Cathey
Cornell H. Huddleston Melvin Cole
Bernard Adams James Williams
Sam Coleman Lonnie Roper
INTERMENT
St. Peters Cemetery
2101 Lucas and Hunt Road, St. Louis, Missouri
REPAST
(Immediately following burial)
Zion Travelers Missionary Baptist Church
CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR
Sam
Friday, January 22, 2016, 10:00 a.m.
Zion Travelers Missionary Baptist Church
351 Chambers Road, St. Louis, MO 63137
The Rev. Dr. Linden Bowie, Pastor and Officiant
Musical Prelude
Family Processional
Scripture Reading
Old Testament: Genesis 1:1
New Testament: John 11:25-26
Prayer
Musical Selection
Tish Haynes Keys
Acknowledgements & Condolences
Special Remarks
Gary Dollar
NaTika Rowles
Musical Selection
Zion Travelers Male Chorus
Ministers’ Remarks
Sam’s Life Story
(Read silently)
Musical Selection
Sam “Buddy” Huddleston II
Eulogy
The Rev. Dr. Linden Bowie
Parting View
Benediction
Services by Granberry Mortuary

2. He had a 1,000-megawatt smile. It was the
first thing you noticed about Sam. Later,
you would learn that he had a serious side, he
was tenacious, and that he was a man of many
talents with a mischievous streak a mile wide.
“Sam was a force to be reckoned with,” laughed
his big sister, Gloria. “And he was spoiled.”
That, she said, never changed.
Sam was the youngest of Ida Mae Welford
Huddleston and Carlos Loucellus Huddleston’s four children and
their only son. Like many Blacks before them, Sam’s parents made
their way out of the south. In 1936, the Huddlestons traded
Humboldt, Tennessee for the south side of St. Louis.
Samuel Harris Huddleston was born seven years
later on December 2, 1943.
He was a rambunctious child, but
Sam was smart and he was indus-
trious. After graduating from Beau-
mont High School he took automo-
tive courses at St. Louis Community
College at Forest Park. He married and
later divorced JoAnn Bishop, with whom
he had two children.
With children to care for, Sam became a very hard-
working man.
Jack of All Trades, Master of Many
Sam was a man of many professions. He handled concierge
services at Old Warson Country Club; he was a milkman for
Pevely Dairy; he did inspections for St. Paul Title Co., he managed
two restaurants: I-HOP, from which he received an award, and
Church’s Chicken. His last job was
at the Bi-State Development Agency
(now Metro Transit), where he drove
buses for 13 years, retiring in 2003.
Based on his childhood, it seems
that driving should have been his
first and only job. At four or five
years old, said his sister Gloria,
their father had Sam sitting on
his lap teaching him how to drive.
“He didn’t teach us anything,”
Gloria said, recalling another
example of how Sam was
pampered. “We (the three girls)
had to go to driving school.”
One of his many jobs was working the
counter at Normandy Bowling Lanes. It’s
where he met Earline Roper in 1974.
“It took two years of begging before
Earline would go out with me,” Sam
would often say. That’s because, Earline
said, he was a “player.”
“I told him when he got rid of some of
those women – maybe,” Earline said.
She finally agreed to marry him if they
bought a house.
And so he did. They were married on July
30, 1994; they moved into their home
in Black Jack in 1995.
A Man of Many Talents
As a young man, Sam spent much of his time playing tennis. He
often played at Fairground Park, not far from his grade school,
Farragut Elementary, in the Northside neighborhood where his
family lived after moving from south St. Louis.
He was a pretty good tennis player. He played in tournaments
and won several trophies. But his greatest skills, perhaps, were
culinary. His specialties were barbecue and greens and he went
wherever he had to go to get just the right ingredients. He headed
to DeMange Family Farms in East St. Louis for turnips, collards
and mustard greens.
“I want to get them while they are young,” he’d declare. His wife
said he was picking the greens practically “before they could come
out of the ground.”
Since he was in Illinois anyway, he’d go a little farther to
Schubert’s Smokehouse & Meat-Packing Company in Millstadt for
some bacon and ham hocks for his greens. Back on the Missouri
side, he’d swing by Restaurant Depot for ribs, which he would bar-
beque in any and all kinds of weather.
Sam could sing too. For the past seven years
he had been a member of Zion Travelers
Missionary Baptist Church where he served
as president of the male chorus. He also
worked in the food pantry.
Love Lives On
Kneeling beside his bed – not to pray but to
relieve a bad back – Sam called his family
every day of his life, even as illness made
simply breathing difficult.
The calls included his mother, who died at
age 99 in 2014, and his sister, Patricia Janet
Randle, who died the same year. He was also
preceded in death by his father.
In addition to his wife of
almost 22 years, Earline
Roper Huddleston, Sam is survived by many oth-
ers who loved him, including two sisters, Gloria
Arrington of St. Louis and Brenda Crues of San Tan
Valley, Arizona; his son and daughter, Sam (Regina)
Huddleston II and Sabrina Huddleston, both of O’Fallon, Illinois;
his stepdaughter, NaTika (Jared) Rowles of Cape Girardeau,
Missouri; two grandchildren, Sam Huddleston III and A’Nyse
Huddleston; an uncle, Ernest Welford, of Milwaukee; three aunts,
Frances Jones, Mary Huddleston and Lanetta Huddleston, all of
St. Louis; two nephews, LaGrande (Cheryl) Huddleston of St. Louis,
and Gregory (Miranda) Crues of Dacula, Georgia, and three nieces,
Shari Barry of San Tan Valley, Arizona, and Monica Randle and
Marcie Randle, both of Laveen, Arizona.
Sam is also survived by his mother- and father-in-law, Marie Roper
and Earl Roper, sisters-in-law, Elizabeth Kyles and Elaine Roper,
and a brother-in-law, Lonnie Roper, all of St. Louis.