Sam Ponzio Jr.

Timeline for Sam Ponzio, Jr.

From Feb. 25, 1939 through August 1, 2025

* Feb. 25, 1939 - Born to Sam Ponzio Sr. & Adela Bernal Ponzio in Fabens, TX, the 5th of 6 children who survived childhood

* Grew up in the adobe warehouse on River St., which had once served as the center for Sam Sr.’s prosperous produce business but which was partitioned into apartments after Sam Sr. was hospitalized and eventually died when Sam Jr. was 13

* Worked at odd jobs while in school, one of the most memorable of which was as an attendant for the Rancher’s Club, where area farmers played dominoes and swapped tales of their having come to the Fabens area to found their farms.

* Attended Fabens Independent School District schools, participating in activities that ranged from playing center on the FHS football team to shearing sheep in the Future Farmers of America and singing in the school choir. An altar boy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Fabens, he also served as president of the Catholic Youth Organization before graduating from high school.

* 1957 - Graduated from Fabens High School and was offered two football scholarships: one from McMurray College in Abilene and another from the Mexico City University, where Sam opted to go with a group of border football players to form the college’s first (and last) football team. When the team did not have a winning first season, the businessmen sponsoring the scholarships discontinued them, sending the Texas players home with a bad case of Montezuma’s Revenge and the option to seek other venues. Sam became a “walk on” at what was then Texas Western College, playing for a small stipend for books for his classes and hitchhiking from Fabens, where he worked part time in a filling station to pay his expenses, aided by sisters Lucy and Violet who were known to invite him for supper when money was especially thin.

* July 7, 1960 - married Jo Ann Willis, daughter of Fabens restaurant operators Edith and Joe Willis and settled in Fabens, where son James Robert was born before the family moved to Los Angeles, where Sam worked for Chevron service stations, and the family grew to include Ronald Franklin and Sherrie Katherine

* Feb.21, 1966 - joined the El Paso Fire Department as the family moved to El Paso, where son Anthony Alan was born before his parents divorced, and Sam became a single parent.

* June 17, 1969 - married Irma Soto combining her family of daughters Marissa and Lorena with Sam’s four children and adding Arthur Biajo and Samuel Orlando before they divorced.

* Sam’s love of sports stayed with him throughout his life. He played catcher for the Fire Department, participating in the Industrial League softball team for many years. He was a faithful follower of the children’s sporting events from elementary through high school, attending football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, gymnastic, and swimming competitions, along with JROTC, science fairs, and speech events.

* June 9, 1979 - married Sally Lee Autrey, a speech and theatre arts teacher at Bel Air High School, in a ceremony that included not only Sam & Sally but all six children

* Aug. 27, 1988 - retired from El Paso Fire Department

* 1980's through 2008 - Although a lifetime member of the Catholic Church, Sam was supportive of Sally’s and Biajo’s membership in Desert View United Church of Christ, where he became an associate member, singing in the choir; serving on the church Council, the Stewardship Committee, the Camp Thunderbird Board of Directors, and Nominating Committee; being elected Deacon of Education, Property Coordinator, and a delegate to the Southwest Conference Annual Meeting; teaching Sunday School; directing vacation Bible school, and acting as a liturgist. Sam resigned his membership at Desert View in 2008 and attended mass at Mount Carmel Catholic Church for the rest of his life.

* May 11, 1991 - Sam had always regretted not having finished his college education, and before retiring from the fire department, he resumed classes first at El Paso Community College and then at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he received a bachelor’s degree with a major in political science and a minor in criminal justice. He served as a substitute teacher for several El Paso county high schools before teaching social studies and coaching soccer for a year at Hanks High School.

* May - Sept. 2003 - spent four months touring the Eastern United States with Sally in their 5th-wheel travel trailer before returning to life in El Paso as retirees. Upon their return, Sam became a football and softball official but discontinued his officiating when he was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD.)

* Fall of 2006 -After returning from a vacation in the American West, Sam was diagnosed as having an occluded circumflex artery and had a stent implanted, leading to the heart. A few months later the heart had mended beautifully, but his lungs were determined not to be absorbing oxygen as they should, and Sam began using his oxygen tank.

* 2007 - Fabens HS Class of 1959 held their 50th class reunion at Cattlemen’s Restaurant outside of Fabens, inviting members from the classes before and after them; Sam was instrumental in making many of the local arrangements, including an afternoon gathering for all attending at Sam’s and Sally’s home. When the banquet and dance ended with a profit, class members voted to donate the money as a scholarship for a Fabens HS graduate. Subsequent discussions led to the formation of the Fabens Alumni Association, a 501c (3) nonprofit organization for which Sam was the founding secretary/treasurer as well as editor for the organization’s newsletter. Beginning with three $500 scholarships, the FAA currently awards several $2,000 scholarships annually. Sam has received the President’s Appreciation Award for his work with the FAA.

* Always active, he had the Helios tank attached to backpack straps which enabled him to go Western dancing every weekend, attend FAA meetings, resume softball officiating at the junior varsity level, and volunteer at the Valley Food Pantry every Wednesday afternoon until the pantry closed and Sam became unable to be active physically.

* August 1, 2025 – passed away at Del Sol Hospital in El Paso at the age of 86.

Sam is survived by his wife Sally Lee Ponzio; six children and their spouses: James Robert Ponzio, Ronald Franklin Ponzio, Sr. (Terri), Sherrie Katherine Gonzales (Daniel), Anthony Alan Ponzio (Cynthia), Arthur Biajo Ponzio (Denyse), and Samuel Orlando Ponzio. His memory is also cherished by 15 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren, and two great, great grandchildren.