Sam was born November 4, 1948 to Sam and Helen Houston in Ft. Worth, Texas. He was head strong, fearless and full of life even as a child. He loved to ride his bicycle, hunt, and pester his older sister, Linda. He was active in the Boy Scouts, earning the Eagle Scout Badge and Scouting Order of the Arrow. After he graduated from high school, Sam enlisted in the Army and served for three years during the Vietnam War. He was a member of the 101st Airborne and Military Police. He then became a police officer with the Corpus Christi Police Department. It was during this time, he met and married Vicki Maxwell and had two children, Chip and Courtney Lea. He attended Corpus Christi State University and received a BS in Criminal Justice. Shortly after graduation he went to work for Citgo Refining Co. One of his proudest accomplishments with Citgo was making a supervisor at Citgo.
Sam loved life. He loved to hunt, fish, ranch, enjoyed woodworking and photography. He loved sunshine, calves, puppies, thunder and lightning, seeing people happy, chocolate, music, traveling, muscle cars and a good bourbon. But most of all, he loved his family. He loved watching his children grow up to become wonderful, respected, loving adults. His proudest family memories were coaching his son in baseball, watching his children play sports, watching both kids graduate from high school and then college. He loved having a son-in-law, Jason Elliott and the blessing of three grandchildren, Brendan, Leighton and Aubrey. He was extremely proud of his son, Chip when he began his career coaching and teaching. We traveled to Houston to watch him coach baseball and football. He was proud of his daughter, Courtney for her loving generous spirit and giving him three grandchildren. He loved his three grandchildren and all the activities they participated in. He didn’t miss very many birthday parties, baseball games, football games or volleyball games and was their biggest fan. Family was always his first priority. Sam and Vicki loved to travel and try new adventures, such as snowboarding in Tahoe and whitewater rafting in New Mexico and horseback riding in the mountains of Montana. He loved his wife, Vicki, unconditionally and deeply.
We will miss his quick wit, generosity, kindness and the loving man he was.
He is survived by his wife, Vicki, his son, Sam Houston IV, his daughter, Courtney Elliott and her husband Jason and three grandchildren, Brendan, Leighton, and Aubrey. He also leaves his sister, Linda Griffin and husband, Gene, his mother-in-law, Phyllis Maxwell, sister-in-law Debbie Conner and husband John, and brother-in-law Kenny Maxwell and wife Beth and numerous nephews and nieces.
