Thomas A. Sampson ’43

Thomas died March 20, 2019, in Naples, Fla., after a short illness. He was 97.

Tom attended Mercer (Pa.) High School, where he was editor of the senior yearbook, art editor of the school paper, and a member of the drama and glee clubs. At Princeton Tom majored in chemistry. In the Nassau Herald Tom said he would “probably study law and become a lawyer or a chemist.”

After Princeton Tom joined the Army Air Corps, where he served for three years flying combat missions in a B-17 Flying Fortress. He was awarded the Air Medal with five Oak Clusters and was discharged as a first lieutenant.

Tom married Betty Ingraham in 1945, and they had two sons. After three years in the metallurgy department of the Carnegie Illinois Steel Corp., he did as he had predicted and went to law school. After graduating from Dickinson School of Law in 1948, Tom joined his father’s firm, Stranahan and Sampson, and worked there until his father’s death in 1962, when he went into private practice. In 1977 Ross Cardas joined the firm, which continued as Sampson and Cardas. Tom retired from the active practice of law in 1983.

Over the course of his career Tom was very active in his community, his church, and with his family.

Tom was predeceased by his wife, Betty. He is survived by sons Jack and Tom.