Ardith Sams
Aug. 24, 1929 - Aug. 16, 2018 South San Francisco
Ardith Sams was a woman known for her warmth, sense of humor and a love of music. The longtime resident of Los Gatos, who also had lengthy stints in New Mexico, Kauai and Concord, died after a long illness in Daly City on Aug. 16.
Born in Homewood, Ill., to Newton and Hazel Edwards, she was the youngest of four children. A happy-go-lucky child who loved to sing and who adored her older siblings, she spent her childhood summers with her grandmother, Kittie Geisler, in the tiny town of Kilbourne, Ill.
After her family moved to the Los Angeles suburbs while she was a teenager, Ardith attended Monrovia Arcadia Duarte High School, graduating in 1947. It was there she met Kenneth Sams, who would become her lifelong love. Their marriage in 1949 lasted 66 years until Ken’s death in 2016.
Ardith studied merchandising at Pasadena City College, from which she received an AA degree. She worked a number of jobs over the years, including as a window decorator at Chrislow’s Department Store in Los Gatos and at Adventure 4-Wheel Drive Center in Campbell, which she and her husband founded and operated from the mid-1970s to mid1990s.
After marrying, the couple settled in Alamogordo, N.M., where Ken worked for Lockheed. In 1960, Ken was transferred to Sunnyvale, and the family, now including four sons, settled in Los Gatos, where they lived for 35 years.
Mrs. Sams was principally a homemaker while her children were young, but she had numerous outside interests. She was active in the Republican Women’s Club as well as PTA, enjoyed collecting antiques and sang in a choir. The family took many camping trips. She wrote poems, served as an art docent in Los Gatos schools and was instrumental in expanding the Los Gatos youth softball league.
She also served on the Los Gatos Parks Commission for 18 years and co-founded the Los Gatos Community Foundation. Her pet project finally came to fruition after she left Los Gatos: a gazebo bandstand placed at Oak Meadow Park.
The couple retired to Kapaa, on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, in 1995, living on son Neill’s property. They returned to the mainland in 2009, settling into a senior complex in Concord to be closer to their other children. A year after Ken’s death, Ardith moved into a board and care facility in South San Francisco.
Ardith is survived by her sister, Dallys Hercules, and her four sons, Nevin, Neill, Eric and Reid Sams.
A service to celebrate her life will be held Sept. 16 beginning at 11:30 a.m. at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to your favorite charity.