Sam Pressley Ezell

Sam Ezell was born January 25, 1936, the second son and fifth child of Samuel Aikens and Clara Jackson Ezell. He passed away February 18, 2022 in Pell City, Alabama. He was a Christian man and a devout believer in Jesus Christ. He was active and supported every church that he attended. Sam grew up in Selma, Alabama attending and graduating from AG Parrish High School. At the ripe age of 10 ½ years old he started throwing newspapers for the Selma Times Journal and before he had graduated from high school he was writing sports articles for the paper. He served 27 months in the Army, stationed for one year in Germany. When his enlistment was over he returned to Selma and writing for the Selma Times Journal. He was best known for his By Line, “It Seems To Me” where he wrote about most anything of interest or a popular topic at the time, but mostly about high school sports. He coached Little League baseball and was as collegial with parents as he was to famous football coaches, like Shug Jordan, who was from Selma, and Paul Bear Bryant. Sam had the nomadic gene of the Ezells and moved frequently. He worked at newspapers in California, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Kentucky. Sports was Sam’s love and he spent most of his entire newspaper career writing about sports. He was tapped as the Sport’s Editor for several of the different newspapers that he worked for as well as Newspaper Editor for a couple of them. He was an avid Atlanta Braves fan.

Sam was the last of Sammy and Clara Ezell’s six children to die. He was preceded in death by his wife, Miriam Day Williams; his parents; older brother James Lamar Ezell; sisters, Mildred Jemima (Sister) Campbell, Agnes Irene Clark, Estelle Nicholson, and Bertha Watts Wyatt; and daughter Charlotte Ann Ezell Ware. He is survived by his two sons, Joe and Glenn Andrew.

Funerals services will be held at Kilgroe Funeral home in Pell City, Alabama on Friday, February 25, 2022 at 11:00 AM. Interment will follow at the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo, Alabama.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.kilgroefh.com for the Ezell family.