Sammy Detrixhe

Funeral services for Sammy Detrixhe, 81, of Higgins, Texas, will be at 10:00 A.M. Saturday, November 25, 2006, at the First Baptist Church in Higgins with Rev. Clifford Baze officiating. Services are under the direction of Hughs Funeral Home of Canadian, Texas. He left this life on November 20, 2006, in Silver Pines nursing home in Bastrop, Texas. Samuel Andrew Detrixhe was born December 5, 1924, on the Detrixhe homestead south of Higgins, Texas. Except for a short period working in an airplane factory in California during World War II and another short time working in a cotton gin, Sammy spent most of his nearly eighty-two years farming and ranching south of Higgins. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour and joined the First Baptist Church of Higgins. On March 4, 1973, he was ordained as a deacon of that same church and served for over thirty years. Sammy was preceded in death by his parents, Ed Detrixhe and Olanda Fiel Detrixhe; two brothers, Edward and Dick, one granddaughter, Janna Detrixhe; and a number of other family members and friends. He is survived by his wife, Anita Ruth Hughes Detrixhe to whom he was married for over sixty-three years; son Tom Detrixhe and wife Carolyn of Bastrop, Texas; daughter Paula Meller of Higgins, Texas; son Mark Detrixhe of Elgin, Texas; and one brother, Paul Detrixhe and wife Donna of Shattuck, Oklahoma. His grandchildren include Bonnie McWhorter and husband Sammy and Carrie Detrixhe, all of Bastrop, Texas; Ryan Meller of Higgins, Texas; Roger Meller and wife Meloni of Perryton, Texas; Amy Meller of Plano, Texas; Heath Detrixhe and wife Amy as well as Heather Fritz and husband Jesse, all of Austin, Texas. Sammy will also be missed by seven great-grandchildren, eleven nieces and nephews, and a host of other family members as well as a great many friends. A man who loved the land, Sammy spent many contented hours on a tractor or a combine. He loved to watch the soil turn with a plow or to see acres of golden wheat blowing in the wind. He enjoyed simple pleasures such as a drink of chilled lemonade or a coca-cola on a hot day. He loved a dish of ice cream anytime! When he wasn’t working, he loved to visit and joke. He could (and did) strike up a conversation with anyone—anywhere—anytime. Anyone who spent time talking with Sammy heard some of his colorful expressions, such as “Well, he got that down to the gnat’s eyeball!” He once said that he wished he had spent less time working and more time with his family and friends, but those who knew Sammy knew that he managed to do both—sometimes by getting friends to work with him! Sammy wasn’t a perfect man and he would be the first to admit that. However, he worked hard, loved his family and friends, and served the church. Now he has gone on to a new life free of pain and struggles, to a better world where he waits at the gate to welcome the rest of us to join him for a good visit when our time to make that journey arrives. The family suggests memorials be made to First Baptist Church Building Fund, P.O. Box 279, Higgins, TX 79046 and the Buckner Baptist Children’s Home, care of P.O. Box 279, Higgins, TX 79046.