Samuel Jeby , August 30, 1932 — October 22, 2018

Samuel Jason Eby passed away peacefully on October 22, 2018, after a short battle with lung cancer. Sam was born August 30, 1932, in Petoskey, Michigan, the sixth child of ten born to his parents Israel and Alma, and graduated from Petoskey High School. Sam served in the Korean War in the United States Air Force from 1949 to 1953 and was honorably discharged with the rank of Staff Sergeant.

After leaving the service, he attended General Motors Institute before beginning work as a tool and die maker for GM at the Fisher Body Coldwater Road plant in Flint, and retired after 30 years. Sam played the harmonica and often entertained those he loved with “Blessed Assurance” or another favorite hymn at Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you were especially lucky, you’d pick up the phone on the morning of your birthday and hear an intake of breath as Sam prepared to play, then the strains of the Happy Birthday song floating over the phone lines.

An entrepreneur at heart, Sam developed an alternative to traditional suspenders that he called “Hitch’s Britches”. He fashioned these of kilt pins, iron-on patches and strapping attached to parachute buckles—and recently improved the original design with Velcro. He also began a memoir entitled “Petoskey,” which detailed his teenage years and time in the Air Force.

After fracturing his humerus in a fall in 2017, Sam moved from Saginaw to St. Joseph’s Village in Ypsilanti, where he provided much constructive criticism to the chef and praised staff members Sarah, Beth and Jay Jay as being “the best nurses in the world”. He married Gloria DeVore in 1958 and they had three children together: Monica (John) Getz of Ypsilanti, Michigan; Julie (Tom) Sussi of Columbus, Ohio; and Bryan Eby of Texas. He had five grandchildren: Stacy, Amy, Cameron, Samuel and Jacob.

He is also survived by his sisters Bertie Dell of Delaware, Ohio; Dorothy Hughes of Delaware; and brother, Jim of Oregon. Funeral service will take place at 12:00 Noon on Friday, October 26, 2018, at W. L. Case and Company, 5700 Dixie Highway. Bertie Dell will officiate with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery.

Friends may visit with the family at the chapel on Friday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of service. To send flowers or a remembrance gift to the family of Samuel J. Eby, please visit our Tribute Store.

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