Sam Houston

Courtesy photo

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Sam Houston

May 16, 1955 ~ September 18, 2020

The great Sam Houston, a man too big for Texas, passed peacefully in his Austin home on September 18, 2020, having lived an exceptional 65 years. Born and raised in Roosevelt, he developed a love of hunting, camping and riding the ranch on his horse, Rowdy. Sam left the Uinta Basin to pursue his educational dreams at the University of Utah, where he met his wife, Antoinette (Toni), in 1974 at the Newman Center. In 1977, Sam and Toni were joined in matrimony at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Provo. Sam later left the “U” to finish his degree at Westminster College. Sam graduated with a degree in accounting and later earned his CPA license. He worked as CFO at St. Joseph Villa Nursing Home in Salt Lake City. He later moved to Austin to continue his career as an auditor with the IRS.

Sam and Toni had two daughters. Sam raised them to be strong, independent and self-sufficient women. He coached Little League softball games, taught them to fish, camp and shoot, and how to properly carve a turkey. Sam highly valued his daughters’ educations and supported their attendance at Blessed Sacrament Catholic School, St. John the Baptist Catholic School, Judge Memorial Catholic High School, Juan Diego Catholic High School and St. Edward’s University. To Sam’s great joy, both daughters followed in his footsteps and graduated from Westminster College, even learning accounting from his former professors. Like Sam, Katie became a CPA and joined the auditing profession. Sam became her favorite and most frequent consultant when she taught tax courses. Melanie followed Sam’s dream of going to law school, becoming an attorney, and later becoming the Honorable Judge Houston. From then on, Sam proudly announced, “Here come the judge” any time she visited. He likewise encouraged his wife’s ministry as a Catholic educator for 40 years. In his later years, Sam loved nothing more than sharing his innumerable dad jokes with his sons-in-law Brandon and Cory.

A known card shark, Sam always enjoyed a good game and cup of coffee with his many colleagues, friends and family. He freely shared his razor-sharp sense of humor and his profound financial wisdom. He had a love of history, photography, and music. He particularly enjoyed Pavarotti, Marty Robbins cowboy ballads and Bach. He will be remembered most as a man of integrity, with an exceptional work ethic, who deeply loved his wife and kids.  

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Blessed Sacrament Catholic School, Sandy, Utah (specifically for student scholarships), to which Sam and Antoinette give credit for helping raise daughters of good moral character.