Lowell Sampson looked forward to the day he would leave the farm where he grew up and set off on his own, family members said. “Times were tough, but he had confidence in himself,” said his son Larry. “As a farm boy, he was a jack-of-all-trades. He was a good mechanic and a self-taught carpenter and electrician.” Mr. Sampson, 82, of Leland, Ill., a farmer and former owner of a trucking firm, died of complications related to a brain aneurysm on Thursday, Aug. 12, in St. Anthony Medical Center, Rockford. Born and raised in Victor Township, Ill., Mr. Sampson was a 1940 graduate of Leland High School, where he played on the basketball team. In 1953, he married Lois I. Passow, who died of cancer in 1999. In his mid 20s, Mr. Sampson took a job delivering fuel to area farms. A few years later, he started a trucking business, where he hauled and laid fertilizer for farms in northern Illinois. “All he had were a couple of small trucks and an old fertilizer shed in his back yard,” his son said. Mr. Sampson’s company, which became known as Lowell Sampson Inc., grew to include nearly 40 trucks and expanded its hauling services to include gravel, livestock, plants, nursery items and dry bulk goods. Mr. Sampson closed his business in 2000 and later that year married his second wife, Joyce Kienst. Mr. Sampson was a lifelong member of Leland United Methodist Church and a former volunteer with and honorary member of the Leland Fire Department. He also served on the Leland Cemetery Association Board, where he was the cemetery’s caretaker for many years. Since 1941 and until recently, Mr. Sampson also kept time at Leland High School basketball games. A few years ago, he was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a “friend of basketball.” “His granddaughters played basketball for Leland, and he lived to watch them play,” his son said. “Even in his 80s, he was hard to keep up with. He had something going every day of the week.” Besides his wife and son, Mr. Sampson is survived by another son, Lonny; a stepson, Gary Crocker; two stepdaughters, Gaydeen Gilkerson and Carole Kolsar; a brother, Gerald; five grandchildren; and numerous step-grandchildren. Services have been held.
