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Sam Paul Whitcomb
1929-2013
 WHITCOMB, Sam Paul Whitcomb, age 83, died peacefully in his sleep on March 28, 2013, at the Riverview Care Center.
Paul Sam Whitcomb was born December 11, 1929, to Charles Maxwell Whitcomb and
Alice Aurora Shager Whitcomb. He had an older brother, Max and later gained a
younger brother when cousin Paul Shager joined the family.
Sam grew up in Seattle and Mukilteo, WA. Living on Naketa Beach in Mukilteo instilled
in him a love of the water and watercraft of all shapes and sizes. Nearly every picture
from his childhood - and certainly the photos in which he is the happiest - is set on or
around the water. In fact, according to a favorite family legend, he refused to leave
Mukilteo to move back to Seattle for the school year, so his mother stayed in Mukilteo
with him while his dad and Max returned to the city. And of course, living on the water in
Mukilteo gave him the ability to claim for years afterwards - usually when his daughters
were complaining about the hardships of life - that he walked three miles along the
railroad tracks to school each morning.
He got his first dinghy at the age of 10 and never looked back. From the Navy to owning
a boat dealership to family vacations boat camping in the San Juans to fishing with Jim
Forsyth to enjoying boating on Lake Coeur d'Alene in his cruiser "The Ancient Mariner"
in his retirement years, he was in his element when he was on the water.
He graduated from Queen Anne High School in Seattle, where he was a standout on the
football field, capping his high school football career playing in the city/state game. He
received a football scholarship to attend the College of Puget Sound (now the University,
of Puget Sound). In addition to playing football through four years of college, he was a
member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity and was named "Man of the Year" in 1951 by his
chapter.
The College of Puget Sound was also where he met his beloved wife of nearly 60 years,
Janet Elizabeth Erickson Whitcomb. They met through mutual friends and began dating
not long before my father graduated. On their first date, Sam took Janet to a cocktail
lounge that was a popular hangout for college students. The place got "raided" that
evening and, unfortunately, Janet was not yet 21 years of age. It is a testament Sam's
character that Janet's parents allowed him to see her again after that incident!
Sam and Janet were married in 1953, shortly after Sam joined the United States Navy
and completed Naval Officers Candidate School in Rhode Island. The first years of their
marriage were spent in California where Sam was based, though he was out at sea a
good portion of the time. He saw active duty during the Korean War on the destroyer
U.S.S. DeHaven. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade before leaving the
Navy in 1955.
Family was paramount to Sam, and he wanted to come back home to Washington State
to be near both his and Janet's families while raising their own family. Daughter Hollis
Elizabeth was born in March of 1955, daughter Susan Melissa was born in November of
1956, and daughter Libby Alison was born in September of 1961. And while Sam liked
to pretend that it was a hardship to be the only male in a house full of females, there was
no doubt in anyone's mind that he absolutely loved his girls.
 Long, long before it was fashionable for fathers to do anything besides bring home the
bacon and put up his feet in the easy chair while sipping a cocktail, Sam was an
incredibly involved, wise, and loving father. He was a natural at parenting and being an
"emotional coach." No matter what had happened, he would always listen and would
never let the offender go to bed without saying "I love you."
But for how much he loved his daughters, his Janet was always first in his heart and the
love of his life. He lit up when she walked in the room. There must have been
something about the two of them because they were very different people and barely
had a half-dozen dates before getting married. And yet, it would be hard to find a
husband more constant and supportive and accepting than Sam, or a marriage that was
more loving and vital throughout its nearly 60 years.
Sam loved poetry and could recite many poems by heart - especially those of his
favorites Rudyard Kipling (think 'The female of the species is more deadly than the
male ... ") and Robert Service (think "The Cremation of Sam McGee"). He never learned
to play an instrument and couldn't carry a tune to save his life - but he loved music. He
was the guy who knew all the words to all the songs. He sang "I see the moon" every
night as he put his daughters to bed.
He had a special place in his heart for musicals. In fact, when it came time to name his
newly-acquired boat business, he named it after the fictional Iowa town in the musical
"The Music Man;" and River City Marina was born. Sam had moved his family to
Spokane in 1960 to work for Bryant's Marina. In 1966, he bought the Bryant's location
on the Spokane River and turned it into it into River City Marina, a boat dealership
business he ran with integrity and success until selling it to daughter Libby and son-in-
law Greg.
Though he was a savvy and highly capable businessman with a incredible work ethic,
when it came down to it, Sam would give the shirt off his back to anyone who needed it.
In spite of the demands of running a small business, he made time to serve the
community of faith as an Elder of Opportunity Presbyterian Church, and later as a
Deacon for First Presbyterian Church. He had a simple and strong faith that guided his
decisions and interactions with people on a daily basis. He believed in the goodness of
his fellow human beings, he believed in working to help those less fortunate than
himself, and he did his utmost to be a kind, gentle, and loving servant of The Lord. He
went home to his Heavenly Father on March 28, 2013, passing peacefully in his sleep.
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