Samuel Gary Polozola

November 28, 1945 – May 27, 2026

Samuel Gary Polozola passed away after a serious illness on May 27, 2026, at the age of 80. A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he was the third of six children born to Steve Anthony, Sr. and Caroline Claire (Lucito) Polozola.

Gary began his education as a Catholic seminarian at St. Joseph Seminary in St. Benedict, Louisiana. He later graduated from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge in 1963. He attended Louisiana State University, where he played catcher for the 1964 and 1965 Tiger baseball teams. Drafted into military service after his sophomore year, he chose the Air Force and served in Texas. Excelling in technical training, he earned a frontline leadership assignment and advanced rapidly in rank, receiving numerous citations and awards for excellence.

During his service at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, Gary met his future wife of 58 years, Kathleen Muriel Rooney. Their first meeting occurred at the opening game of a local summer baseball league where Gary coached a team sponsored by the base hospital; one of his players was Kathleen's younger brother.

After returning to Louisiana, Gary attended Southeastern Louisiana University, earning a BA in Management in 1974 and an MBA in Business Finance in 1977. Following a successful career in corporate human resources, he enrolled in Texas A&M University School of Law and earned his Juris Doctor in 1998. He practiced law in Fort Worth, initially focusing on employment law before dedicating the remainder of his career to immigration law. He medically retired in 2017 and continued serving as Of Counsel with Wilks Law Office until 2021.

Six years before retirement, Gary began researching the Polozola-Lucito family history. Guided by Benjamin Franklin's quote, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail,” he used his exceptional research skills to build a family tree containing more than 120,000 relatives dating back to the 1200s. His work included thousands of photographs, vital records, obituaries, and newspaper articles. He connected with relatives across the United States, Canada, and Sicily, sharing family stories and preserving generations of history.

A lifelong baseball enthusiast, Gary won three city championships as a player—including league MVP and batting titles—and seven more as a coach. He often said the teacher was always the best student and treasured the opportunity to help young athletes grow both on and off the field. He never quite recovered from the Texas Rangers' heartbreaking 2011 World Series Game 6 loss or the departure of Nolan Ryan, making the team's 2023 World Series championship especially meaningful.

Gary was an avid collector of U.S. coins, antique pocket watches, and Western art. He was particularly proud of his collection of U.S. Supreme Court Justices' autographs, personal papers, and biographies, which an appraiser affiliated with the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society described as unique in private hands. In 2015, he and Kathleen donated the collection to Catholic High School in Baton Rouge in memory of his brother, U.S. District Court Judge Frank Joseph Polozola.

Gary and Kathleen also shared a love of cooking. He often joked that he merely chopped the ingredients while Kathleen “made it food.” In 2021, he published How to Stuff in Italian, a cookbook featuring treasured Sicilian family recipes centered on stuffed dishes.

Known for his compassion and generosity, Gary quietly volunteered in every parish community where he lived and supported numerous civic organizations. He served as Parish Council chairman at three Catholic parishes and participated on finance, publicity, and diocesan committees. Among many honors recognizing his service, he was especially proud of receiving the Houston YMCA's Man of the Year Award in 1978.

His legal career also reflected his commitment to helping others, as he devoted hundreds of hours annually to pro bono work and often assisted clients in finding employment. In 2017, he joined the Sovereign Order of Malta, a Catholic lay religious order dedicated to serving those in need through medical, social, and humanitarian works.

Gary is survived by his beloved wife, Kathleen; daughter Christine Polozola Roth (Michael) and their children, Anthony Michael and Ella Kathleen Ziober of Keller, Texas; son Stephen Louis Polozola (Vanessa) and their children, Mia Dover and Tatum Lee Polozola of Burleson, Texas; and son Bryan Nicholas Polozola and his children, Quinn Michelle, Baxter Nicholas, Caleb Mitchell, and Leonardo Nicholas Polozola of Plano, Texas. He is also survived by his sister Mary Patricia Domas (Ronnie); brother Steve Anthony Polozola, Jr. (Cheryl); and sister-in-law Linda Kay Polozola (Frank), all of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his father- and mother-in-law, Bill and Muriel Rooney; brothers Frank Joseph, Ronald James, and Edward Gerard Polozola; and brother-in-law Michael Edward Rooney. He also leaves behind a large extended family, many friends, and his longtime friend and seminarian “big brother,” Robert William Muench, Bishop Emeritus of Baton Rouge.

A wake and visitation will be held at Moore Funeral Home, 4216 S. Bowen Road, Arlington, Texas, on Friday, June 12th, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

A Mass and memorial service will be celebrated on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 5819 Pleasant Ridge Road, Arlington, Texas, with Deacon Kevin Bagley officiating. Family and friends are invited to a luncheon immediately following the service. Interment will take place at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery at a later date.

Donations may be made to the Abbey Pennies for Bread Program, St. Joseph Abbey, 75376 River Road, St. Benedict, Louisiana 70457, or to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

“Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid... He is the hero; he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.” (Raymond Chandler)