Sam Gorman

Sam Wesley Gorman of Abilene, Texas, passed away from this life on Monday, October 15, 2012, and entered into the presence of the Lord. Funeral services will be at 10:00 am Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at Baker Heights Church of Christ. Steve Smith, Gary Montgomery and Wes Gorman will officiate. Burial will follow at 2:00 pm in the Murray Cemetery in Carbon, Texas. Services are under the direction of The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road. Sam was a lifelong resident of the Big Country. Born July 10, 1928, in Oplin, Texas, Sam was the seventh son of Willie and Amy Gorman. He was an active boy, hunting in the hills of Callahan County with his father and brothers, fishing in the tanks and creeks, and working with the family on the farms and ranches around Baird. It was then that Sam developed his love for the land and cattle that meant so much to him, and he determined to own his own farm someday. Sam played football for the Baird Bears and was a proud member of the first football team at Cisco Junior College in 1947. It was at CJC that Sam met Tincy Underwood of Carbon, Texas, a fellow student in his math classes, and the woman who would become his wife on September 2, 1950. Sam and Tincy remained side by side through life for sixty-two years. Sam began working for the Texas Highway Department (later the Department of Highways and Public Transportation) as a brush-chopper and fence builder along the new roads being built in Callahan and Taylor Counties in the 1940's and 1950's. He signed on with the Highway Department full time after his graduation from Abilene Christian College in May of 1951, and worked there for the next thirty-seven years. He had a reputation for being a dedicated worker, often arriving first at the job site or in the office. Sam concluded his career as an engineering assistant in the district office. As he drove the roads and highways of the Big Country, he was fond of proudly pointing out sections of the road that he helped to build. In the 1950's, Sam began to follow the Abilene High School Eagle football team. He was a fan of the Eagles from then on, and was proud to watch as his son Wesley and grandson Jason eventually played for the Eagles. One of his most treasured possessions was a signed football from the state championship team of 2009, for which Jason played as a senior defensive lineman. When he was fifteen years old, Sam was invited to church with a neighbor in Baird, and from that time on, he was a faithful member of the Church of Christ. In Abilene, he was a member of the 12th and Chestnut congregation, he was a founding member of the Southern Hills Church of Christ, and a faithful member of the Baker Heights Church of Christ for the past eighteen years. He served the church as a teacher, a deacon and an elder. He had a special heart for missions; he served as a deacon in charge of the World Bible School at Baker Heights. He was loved and respected as a leader in the church, and his faithful influence has been felt the world over. Sam bought his farm in Eastland County, southeast of Carbon, in 1967. Sam was a good steward of the land and his cattle. It was on the farm that he taught his children and grandchildren the value of hard work and a healthy love and respect for the land. Sam was preceded in death by his parents, by his brothers Mart, J.D., John Louis, Tommy, Dan and Bill, and his sister, Elsie Sampson. He is survived by his brother Don Gorman of San Angelo, by his loving wife Tincy Gorman of Abilene, by his son Wesley Gorman of Abilene, his daughter Cindy Gregg of Pflugerville, grandsons Jason Gorman and Grant Gorman of Abilene, Taylor Gregg of Abilene and Colt Gregg of Pflugerville, granddaughter Mikalyn Gregg of Pflugerville, and great-grandson Levi Gorman of Abilene, several nieces and nephews, and a host of friends and brothers and sisters in the Lord. Jason and Grant Gorman, Taylor and Colt Gregg, Don and Stanley Underwood, Tommy Sampson and Bob Powell will serve as pallbearers. Memorials may be made in Sam's honor to The Children's Home of Lubbock, P.O. Box 2824, Lubbock, TX 79408.