Dennis Sammut

January 4, 1943 - January 29, 2020

Dennis Sammut, 77, San Bruno businessman, inventor, and adventurer, died on January 29, 2020 of complications from pancreatic cancer. Dennis John Sammut was born January 4, 1943, in San Bruno, the second child of Joseph Sammut, Jr. and Helen Arana Sammut, both of San Bruno. He is best known as the third-generation owner-operator of

Artichoke Joe’s Casino, one of San Bruno’s oldest businesses. Dennis took over the company in the early 1980s and developed it into one of the largest and most popular cardrooms in northern California. A vigorous outdoorsman, Dennis became an expert hunter and whitewater rafter, engaging in hunts from Alaska and Canada to Botswana and Australia, and running rivers throughout the western U.S. and Canada. His favorite was the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, which he rowed three times.

As a long-range marksman, he invented, patented, and marketed a revolutionary new type of reticle (the graphics seen in a rifle scope) that has been widely praised by experts and is now used by military and other sharpshooters around the world.

Dennis was known for his generous support of youth athletic teams and other charitable causes in the San

Bruno area.

He is survived by his wife Karen Anne Sammut, his mother Helen, his daughter Lara, sons Cody and Michael, sister Sally Sammut Johnson, and brother Rick Sammut. All live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to one or both of Dennis’s favorite charities: the Pomeroy Recreation and Rehabilitation Center (https://www. prrcsf.org/) and the Service League of San Mateo County (http://serviceleague.org/).