James "Sam" Samuel Moss Sr.

James Samuel “Sam” Moss, Sr. went to his heavenly home Tuesday April 22, 2025. Survived by his daughter Sherry Mehr Tyler (Sam) and son Jeffrey William Moss (Nina), he was preceded in death by his oldest son, James Samuel (Jamie) Moss, Jr. Sam was born on Feb 4, 1939 to the late Esther Lee Pike and James Everette Moss in Columbia Ky.

He joins his parents in heaven along with his big brother Thomas Lee and little sisters Jane and Linda Sue. When Sam was just a boy, his father fell ill with a brain aneurism and his mom had to pack up her kids and move to Louisville to look for work. Times were hard and she was forced to enroll the children in a local orphanage, Ormsby Village, to attend school and be cared for. They all graduated from there and started their busy lives. At age 22, Sam married his first wife, Sylvia and had a daughter. After their divorce, he married his second wife Patricia, and had two sons.

Life moved along quickly, and Sam kept busy working for many years as a painter, from which he eventually retired, leading his own crew. Sam found joy in coaching his sons in baseball and football at Highview Little League and bowled a couple of nights a week at local venues, where he won lots of trophies and patches for high games and series scores! After his second divorce, he “gave up on marrying” and just enjoyed dating. He had a few girlfriends, but at one of his school reunions he ran into an old flame. They rekindled their romance, and wefinally met the infamous “Susie” whose name he had tattooed on his arm since he was a young man! With that relationship,

he was gifted with his “grandson” and good little buddy, D.J. whom he helped raise. After Susie died, Sam remained a strong presence n his life until D.J.’s tragic passing.

Sam loved tinkering in his garage, especially working with Jeff on his firey-red ’73 Mustang Mach 1. He named her the “Mosstang” and she survives to this day. Arguably the best female relationship he ever had! He also enjoyed fixing up lawn mowers and bicycles, becoming the neighborhood’s go-to-guy for anything mechanical. If you needed something, “Mr Sam” probably had it tucked away somewhere in that garage. He was a true pack rat and never threw anything away that may be of some use to someone someday! Sam had a sharp wit, told funny (and sometimes inappropriate) jokes and Nina is going to miss their sarcastic bantering the most. He always had something to say, and usually, it made people laugh. He loved sitting on the porch and sharing a beer in the afternoons with his good buddy, Ed, and hearing about all the neighborhood chatter from “Miss Millerson” and he particularly loved all the home cooked meals from his good friends, Patsy and Joyce. He never had a chance to go hungry around them! His friend, Dustin, kept his flower beds looking good and he and good ol’ Ed stayed on top of the grass mowing.❤ In the last few years. as he started to wind down, he appreciated all the special grocery runs by friends to Walmart or Kroger and loved getting his reduced price yogurt and his bargain bag of bananas from Valu-Mart! So frugal! I suspect now that he’s gone, ValuMart could be in financial trouble without his semi-weekly visits, and the pharmacy staff is not nearly as busy without with his weekly refills of his many meds. He was there so often the staff knew him by name!

In the winter months, with help from Doja (his precious tailless cat), Sam would spend hours doing crossword puzzles in his special puzzle room. She kept hiding all the pieces and Sam would find them in the weirdest places. When he got tired of looking, the two of them would curl up for a nap in his recliner by the window. Doja loved his lap, especially when he had his back massager on!

In the summer, Sam loved selling all kinds of random extra stuff in his front yard. You never knew what his “for sale” sign was gonna say next! (BTW we still have loads of puzzles, purses, bikes and lots more “extra stuff” if anyone needs some?!) ❤

Though his final years were rough, battling cancer and breathing issues, it brought his daughter more opportunities to spend time with him. She was always ready to take him to his Dr appointments and tests, and when she would run late, he would be sitting on the porch ready and waiting to go. When he suggested he could drive himself, she had to remind him that wasn’t a good idea. “No dad, you can’t drive yourself, you are blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other! Remember the grocery cart fiasco at Valu?!” He would chuckle and say she was right and afterwards, he always took her out to lunch. And yes, he always had a coupon!

Sam was the best “Poppy” to his grandchildren, Anna, Abbey, Dylan, Autumn, Alexey, Emily, and Justin, and “Great Grand-Poppy” to Jordyn, Jameson, Oakley, Easton, Brixton, Harvey, Calvin, Barrett, Quentin and Everest. They’ll always remember his hugs, they were the best and often left them breathless! He is also survived by many nieces and nephews who will miss him bunches, especially at Derby time. He was always a good for a laugh at parties, and I am sure it was his lucky black cowboy hat that helped him win all those jackpots! He fought hard, and though we just fell just short of bringing him home one last time to enjoy the sunshine and a sit on the porch with his great neighbors and family, he left this world knowing he was deeply loved. Keep us all in your prayers because it’s going to be very hard to go on without him. Thank you to everyone who loved, supported and helped care for our amazing dad.

Visitation will be this Sunday April 27, 2025 from 1-3 pm with a service to follow at Arch L. Heady at Resthaven, 4400 Bardstown Rd. Louisville, 40218. We hope to see you there. Please bring your photos and memories of Sam. We would love to share them.