SLOAN, Sam P.

The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ Feb. 13, 2002, p. A7 Sam P. Sloan, a former Wickenburg resident, passed away peacefully in his sleep in Tempe, on Feb. 1, 2002. He was 90. Mr. Sloan was born Dec. 10, 1911 in Hoisington, Kan. He moved to Arizona and settled in Wickenburg in 1990. Sam moved to Texas at a young age and then to Chicago, where he spent over 60 years. He had been an active supporter of the Democratic Party and a member of the Democratic National Committee. He was invited to many presidential inaugurations. Sam served in the U.S. Navy Seabees during World War II, and was stationed in the Pacific. He was a past Commander of the Norman J. Cornwall Post No. 275 of the American Legion, in Chicago. After he quit the military to pursue his career, he kept attending American Legion conventions and supporting American veterans. One of the greatest achievements in his work career was the involvement in establishing and advocating for the United Furniture Workers of America, which is a CIO union in Chicago. Sam helped organize many strikes and lockouts that intended to raise minimum wages of workers and ensure better work and living conditions for them. Sam also worked diligently to settle many AFL-CIO labor disputes. He had been their strong supporter even after he retired as a Vice President of the United Furniture and Bedding Workers Union, in 1972. He also served as a business manager for the union, as well as precinct captain and a teller. After moving to Wickenburg in 1990, his beloved wife Rose died shortly afterward, in 1991. Sam had been a longtime diabetic and in his last years he battled with cancer. He had traveled a lot throughout the U.S. and abroad, to Australia, Russian, Japan, Egypt and Europe. He enjoyed playing golf and socializing. He had a good sense of humor and he liked helping others. He had made many donations to charities and often supported the poor. He understood poverty, which he experienced in his early years. Sam spent his last years in comfort, surrounded by his friends. He left numerous nephews and nieces in Illinois, Colorado, and Texas, his late wife's family in Wisconsin, friends in Illinois, New Jersey and Arizona, and his faithful companions Kathy Soroczynska and her daughter, Monika, who gave him longtime love and care in the last years of his life. In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his sisters Thelma DeVylder, Dorothy Eli and Lois LaBree; and his brothers Robert B. Sloan, Edward Sloan and Francis W. Sloan. Memorial services with a mass will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Wickenburg.