Arlene King Sampson
CAREFREE – Arlene King Sampson (88) passed away on September 4, 2023 at her home in Carefree, Arizona. She is survived by husband Thomas Sampson of Carefree; daughter Lynne Sampson of Chapel Hill, NC (husband Robert ‘Robby’ Poore, children Gretchen and Desmond Poore); daughter Charlotte Sampson of Glorieta, NM (daughters Marissa and Mariah ‘Reed’ Myers, partner Bruno Gagnon), and Laura Lejzerowicz of Lexington, KY (husband Josef ‘Joe’ Lejzerowicz); nephew Perry Burr and family of Gaithersburg, MD; niece Rebecca Sander and family of Middletown, OH; and her beloved cat Dolly.
Arlene was born in Cleveland OH on February 19, 1935 to Arthur and Velma King. She met the love of her life, Thomas Sampson, in 1961 and they were married in Euclid OH in 1964, sharing 59 years of marriage. She graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor’s Degree in English in 1966. They started their family while Tom was finishing his PhD at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, welcoming daughters Lynne and Charlotte. The family moved to Los Alamos, NM in 1969 and their third daughter, Laura, was born there. Arlene enjoyed travel and the family spent a year living in England in 1983, returning to Los Alamos where Tom continued to work for Los Alamos National Laboratory. They retired to Carefree, AZ in 2002.
Arlene was a devout Episcopalian and throughout her life was often involved in church causes. She worked as church secretary, school English teaching assistant, and homemaker during various seasons of her life. She enjoyed nothing better than spending time with her family and spoiling her grandchildren. She was skilled at needlepoint and crochet and gifted her work to friends and family. It is also very likely that she had the largest rubber duck collection in the entire state of Arizona!
Services will be held at Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church in Cave Creek AZ on September 29th, 2023 at 10:30am. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation or Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.