Samuel Burtis Longenecker

Samuel Burtis Longenecker was born September 12, 1978 in Longview, Texas. He started climbing things a few hours later, and never stopped. His brothers remember Sam as a youngster, using bookshelves and furniture and walls to circumnavigate the house, never once touching the ground. A few years later his mother remembers being scared out of her mind to hear a voice overhead while she was walking down the hallway: Sam had climbed to the top of the hall, flush against the ceiling, feet against one wall and hands against the opposite wall. Just recently his father found him perched precariously atop a six foot ladder, on the tip of one toe, replacing light bulbs in a twelve foot ceiling.

In junior high, Sam’s brother Ben introduced Sam to the girl that became the love of his life – his “little berry.” Sam waited until her high school graduation day, and not a moment more, to marry Shona on May 31, 1998. When asked what she would remember most about Sam, Shona says “Everything – he was the Complete Package.” He was generous and kind, always thinking about others. One of Shona’s fondest memories is the stuffed rabbit that Sam would make to hold conversations with Shona.

Sam’s career as a computer technician started early, rebuilding complete PCs in his childhood living room at the ripe old age of 8. His father had caught wind of a wholesale clearance of personal computers and planned to purchase a couple. As friends and family heard about it, 2 became 10, then 100. On delivery, 100 “computers” turned out to be 100 boxes of somewhat-working parts. Sam, his brothers and their dad spent the next three months rebuilding 100 computers in their living room. To this day, there are 25-year-old scrap parts in Sam’s storage bins.

While his brothers went on to other career fields, Sam had found his element. He spent the rest of his life building, fixing, operating, connecting, and wiring computers and computing technology. He spent several years as a computer technician for various hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley, and always did odd jobs freelance for his dad’s consultancy, but most of his career consisted of several entrepreneurial endeavors with his best friend Steve. Sam discovered a particular talent for installing and servicing high-end security and surveillance systems. As a result of their latest adventure, Sam and Steve spent many years in prison – of their own volition, installing and replacing and repairing technology for a series of South Texas detention facilities.

To earn a college degree is a commendable achievement. To do so as a small business owner is all the more impressive. But to do so as a small business owner in the Valley – where business tends to dry up in the summer but to reach a feverish pace during the traditional school year, is truly remarkable. Sam’s brother recounts a story of Sam showing up between jobs for a midterm one Thursday, only to discover that the exam had been Wednesday. Undaunted, Sam felt he could still pull off a passing grade by doing well on the final exam. After studying hard and making a point to arrive early on Wednesday to take the final, his realized to his great chagrin that the exam had been Tuesday. Ever the determined one, he nonetheless did successfully graduate from the University of Texas Pan American in 2004.

Sam loved to cook. On the grill, on the stove, in the oven, in the microwave. But mostly on the grill. His older brother is grateful for his sirloin taco recipe: a 1/2 inch thick cut of sirloin steak, Goya sour orange marinade (mojo criollo works in a pinch), and a splash of lime juice, marinated at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours at room temperature. Grill at medium-high until medium, a few minutes per side. Salt to taste. Served with cheese of choice on soft tortillas, with a slice of avocado…yum.

More than anything, Sam was devoted to his family. Long before he and Shona had their own children, they babysat and later fostered three girls: twins Jada and Jasmine, and when she was born two years later, Jocelyn. Little Jasmine had a feeding tube. She also loved to eat marbles. Sam spent many a night in the emergency room having marbles removed from her stomach and feeding tube. Shona fondly remembers Sam doting on their foster children, dressed up and wearing make-up along with the girls. The family made many summer trips to Sea World in San Antonio, and never failed to take a 90-minute break in the penguin exhibit so the girls could nap.

In the Summer of 2005, Hurricane Emily wreaked havoc on the Rio Grande Valley. At the time, Sam worked for Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen. While Sam spent 3 days working to keep hospital computer systems online through storm, eight-month-pregnant Shona took refuge in the same hospital, sleeping on an inflatable mattress in a glass-walled conference room. One month later, their son Ashton was born, whereupon Sam and Ashton instantly became one another’s whole world – even though Sam said his baby son looked like an alien.

A few years before Sam’s passing, Ashton knocked a gaping hole through a closet wall into the adjacent bathroom in his grandparents’ home. Such an incident might seem disastrous in many homes. His grandparents didn't even bat an eye - recalling Sam as a teenager greeting them at the front door one night to explain a new doorway into his older brother's bedroom. David and Sam had wrestled down the hallway one evening and ended up pushing one another right through the wall! Evidently the apple did not fall far from the tree in this case.

Samuel Burtis Longenecker was born on September 12, 1978, in Longview, Texas. He left us far too soon on March 1, 2021, in McAllen, Texas, at 42 years of age. Samuel will be greatly missed by his mother and father, his wife and son, his two brothers, and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.