Wayne Gin Sam

Wayne Gin Sam, 84, of Centennial peacefully passed away on Saturday, May 14, 2016. Born October 30, 1931, in Guangdong, China, he immigrated to the U.S. at age 17. Wayne was a successful businessman (owner - Harmony Market; founder - Sam's Meats) and lifelong member of the Hop Sing Tong Association, who loved and valued his family above all else.

A devoted husband, father and grandfather, Wayne will be missed and remembered for his strength and undeniable drive. He was preceded by his wife of 56 years, Sally Sam, married on April 19, 1956, and survived by four children, Irene Yee (husband: Tom) of Lafayette, Indiana; Kenneth Sam (wife: Shari) of Golden, Colorado; Debbie Sam of Elizabeth, Colorado; and Karen Sam (husband: Jack) of Longmont, Colorado. Also surviving are seven grandchildren, Eric Yee, Rachel Yee-Wilkes, Beau Sam, Pamela, Michelle & Parker Gabbert, and Nathan Sam.

Visitation on Sunday, May 22, from 1:00-2:00 p.m., with funeral service following at 2:00 p.m., both at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary, 6601 S. Colorado Blvd. in Centennial. Please visit olingerchapelhill.com to offer condolences.

Papa’s Shadow

To my father, Wayne Sam (circa, 2006)

By Kenneth Sam

Papa’s shadow. That’s the thought that came to mind as my young son, Nathan, followed my every move trying to hide from the glaring sunshine in my shadow.

We visit my parents regularly. Age and health have taken their toll on my papa, who I know simply as dad. He is no longer the outgoing, boastful and personable man he was just a few years ago. He moves his thin 5’3” frame slowly, speaking only when spoken to and seemingly living minute-by-minute. I watch as Nathan ran up to his grandpa and my dad’s eyes lit up for a fraction in time as Nathan kissed him on the cheek. It was then I realized that I stand in my dad’s shadow.

I really only understand my dad’s childhood from piecing together short stories my dad would tell me when I was young. My dad was born in China, in 1931, the oldest of seven boys and two sisters. He survived many challenges and hardships in China, including Japanese invasions, the Communist Revolution, social turmoil and communism. My dad sold vegetables in the streets and cared for his siblings as my grandmother worked cleaning houses and working odd jobs. They struggled to make ends meet, living a migratory existence before finally settling in the slums of Kowloon. My dad told us these stories to teach us about the struggles that others face in everyday life.

Opportunity came when my dad’s uncle, Uncle Floyd, the half brother of my grandfather, born to my great-father’s wife #2 in the United States, kept a simple promise to bring my father to the United States. Grandma did not have enough money for passage so the family begged and borrowed to save the fare. At age 17, my dad immigrated to the United States as a “paper son” with immigration papers from his Uncle Floyd.

When my dad arrived in Fresno, California, he spoke no English, had no formal education and no acquaintances. His extended American family, those of wife #2, were strangers and ashamed of their distant foreign relative. They kept their distance, afraid of the stigmatism and disruption this awkward foreigner might cause in their own lives. Uncle Floyd encouraged my dad to attend the local high school to learn English; however, my dad could only think of the life and family he left behind in Hong Kong and the large debt he owed to those who loaned money for passage. He worked two jobs, slaughtering and dressing chickens beside other Chinese immigrants and delivering produce to restaurants. He saved, lived frugally and sent money home to grandma.

In his mid-twenties, my dad met my mom. My mom was Japanese-American and spent her early-teens in the Japanese interment camps. My mother never spoke of the camps, and to this day, the camps are an uncomfortable topic of conversation.

What a strange couple my mom and dad made during a time when Japan-China relations were strained. They fell in love and married in a quiet ceremony attended by my dad’s friends from the poultry house and my mom’s best friend. No one from my dad’s family attended his wedding.

Soon after I was born, my dad left his job at the poultry house and took a job as a butcher in a local Chinese run grocery store. With mom’s help, he learned English and elementary reading and writing skills. My mom and dad worked hard to raise my three sisters and me.

In 1974, our family moved from California to Colorado, in pursuit of my dad’s dream to own a business. He bought a corner grocery store in a poor neighborhood outside of Denver, where our family worked seven days a week. Working together kept us close.

My dad and mom took a day off to see me graduate from high school. While my family and friends were there to celebrate the occasion, I felt alone in making one of the hardest decisions of my life. I was ready to attend college, yet I knew that college would impose a financial hardship on my family. I decided not to enroll and kept working with my family at the store. My relationship with my father grew resentful and competitive, and I left the family business a year later. My mom and dad retired in the mid - 1990’s. I went on to open a business and later attended college, graduate school and law school.

Today my dad spends his days quietly reading the paper. Our time together is quiet with few words. When Nathan is in the room, my dad admires his grandson. I often wonder what my dad is thinking.

I am a lawyer and family man. When faced with a difficult problem, I often ask myself, “What would my dad do?” You see everything I ever needed to know to succeed in life I learned from my dad. My dad is the wisest man I know - not in academics, but in life.

On reflection, I know I will never have my dad’s courage. He is “dad” – always caring for his family first.

My dad is a shadow of the man he once was; yet I will always stand in my papa’s shadow.