Sam was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 27, 1948. He grew up in Dimmitt, TX. He married Lue Jane on July 7, 1977. Sam graduated from SSOP in 1990 and from Texas Tech in 1996. Sam is a retired schoolteacher.

Sam and Lue Jane have five children: Jonathan, Tim, Brian, Daniel and Janelle. Tim and his wife Terra live in Rapid City, South Dakota and have two daughters, Kassidy and Katie. Their son Brian and his wife Melissa live in Ft Cobb, Oklahoma and they have three children, Josiah, Evelyn and Audry. Jonathan lives and works in Austin.  Daniel is an assistant band director at Lovejoy High School and Janelle who works for Marshalls.
 
Sam’s favorite foods are pizza and hamburgers. He loves trout fishing, leather tooling, painting and ceramics.