Samuel Wayne Yansco

1947-2012

Samuel “aka” Sam, a lifelong resident of Merced, CA was born on December 15, 1947 to Elsie & Frank Yansco and passed peacefully at Palo Alto VA Hospital on August 1, 2012.

He attended local schools, entered the Marines in 1967 and went to Vietnam, returned home in 1969 after being wounded. Being a quad paraplegic, he lived a full life working thru many obstacles. Dr’s. informed him that he would most likely only live 20yrs due to his injuries, he fooled everyone. He continued to live & enjoy life another 40+ years.

Sam loved to get into his van grab his brothers, nieces/nephews, or friends to join him and go fishing. One of Sam’s favorite past times was going to his house boat “Lazy Sam’s Beehive” to do some fishing, pulling skiers in his small 16ft boat & laugh when they hit the water. He would even join in to take a swim. He liked to go to Pismo Beach & ride the dunes in a sand rail or dune buggy. Sam loved the outdoors and never missed an opportunity to go hunting or camping. He enjoyed watching children & adults walking & riding the bike path on Bear Creek.

Sam occupied his time with his huge collection of comic books. You could find him cataloging his favorite ones or putting models together. An avid Treky fan, he would watch & record Star Trek reruns from earlier days, and never missed an opportunity to go to a convention with his brothers tagging along. His bedroom was full of his collectables. He was also an avid Raider fan.

Sam, never having children of his own, had 110+ nieces, nephews, great & great greats living from Florida to Alaska. He embraced them all and called some of them his own. He loved spending time with them & they loved to hang with Sam in his room. Some would sit on his bed with him & watch TV like Star Trek & Price is Right, his favorite shows of course. Never missing an opportunity to look at the pretty girls.

He touched so many lives some never realizing how much. Sam was a True American Hero in every way, he will never be forgotten.

His favorite motto “Once A Marine Always A Marine”!

Sam was a member of (P.V.A.) Paralyzed Vets of America, (V.F.W.) Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, & Honorary Member of Merced Runabouts.

He was preceded in death by 2 brothers, George Yansco & Billy Beeman.

Sam is survived by his parents, Elsie (Caton) & Charles E. Beeman; brothers, Tim (Raylene) Curtice; Don Curtice; Robin (Karen) Curtice, and Curtice (Rochelle) Perry all of Merced; sisters, Janice Hernandez, Margie Myrtue, Terri Beeman Penfold, Sharlet Beeman all of Merced, and Nova (Bob) Beeman Beevers of Nevada; numerous Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Friends; and 2 very special companions, Jade & Puppy.

A viewing will be held Thursday, August 9TH from 4:00pm-7:00pm at Stratford Evans Merced Funeral Home, 1490 B St., Merced, CA 95340. Sam will be laid to rest on Friday, August 10TH with services at 10:00am at Stratford Evans Merced Funeral Home and burial to follow at Winton District Cemetery.

The family would like to express a special thank you to Dr. Sullivan, Dr. Ossowski, Dr. Sunit Patel, Dr. Bailey, & Elwanda Byrnes.

Arrangements are under the direction of Stratford Evans Merced Funeral Home.