Funeral service for Lloyd Houston “Sam” Sams, 71, of Moulton, will be Monday, January 5, 2015, at 11 a.m. at Parkway Funeral Home with Bro. Dennis Terry officiating. Visitation will be tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. Interment will be at Landersville Church of Christ Cemetery.
Mr. Sams was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Bradley Vandiver Sams; and a brother, Larry Sams.
Survivors include his wife, Connie Denise Sams; sons, Brett, Ben, and Beau Sams; daughters, Darbi Sams Crumpton (Todd) and Samantha Sams Young (Jesse); stepsons, Kinley Kirby and Jarrad Kirby; grandchildren, Cash Crumpton, Eliza Sams, Beau Sams Jr., Sybil Sams, John Sams, Brees Crumpton, Ashley Sams, and Taylor Sams; stepgrandchildren, Dorean Kirby and Achilles Kirby; brother, Joe Mac Roberts, Austin, TX; and sisters, Billie Ann Naylor, Mobile and Mary Katherine “Kitty” Bennett, Moulton.
Lloyd was born July 21, 1943, to Lloyd Howard Sams and Alice Katherine Latham Sams. He spent his early years in the small community of Landersville, just outside of Moulton. Lloyd played high school sports at Lawrence County High, where he was an all-county basketball player. He attended Alabama Christian College, where he was a standout athlete in basketball and baseball. Lloyd left college to enter the United States Air Force in 1966, where he served until his honorable discharge in 1971. Upon leaving the service, Lloyd took a position in automobile sales at Hicks Chevrolet in Decatur, and the rest was car sales history. Throughout his time at Hicks, Art Ballew, and ultimately Lynn Layton Chevrolet, Lloyd sold an estimated 25,000 new and used cars over forty-one years, earning numerous honors and awards, including Chevrolet’s national salesperson of the year. Despite the volume of sales, Lloyd valued people and always credited his customers with his success.
In 2014, Lloyd was honored to have been inducted into the Lawrence County Sports Hall of Fame. He was a lifelong sportsman, playing senior league baseball until he was physically unable. Late in his life, he enjoyed spending Sundays attending Family Baptist Church, where he found the motivation and faith to fight cancer until his passing on January 2, 2015. –
