Sam Vaughn, who had a Ceres elementary school named after him after 34 years of service to students of the Ceres Unified School District, has died.
Vaughn, who was diagnosed with dementia about 10 years ago, died Feb. 23 at Samaritan Village in Hughson where he lived. He was 89.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, April 5 at 1 p.m. at the Hughson United Methodist Church. The service will be live-streamed on the church’s YouTube channel.
Judy Marable said her father will be remembered as a man who loved people and enjoyed being involved in the community on multiple levels. She said CUSD named a school after him “because of all of the wonderful things he did for kids and families over the years.
“He was really kind of shocked when they were going name to school after him,” she chuckled.
“He was a humble guy too. He was joyful and full of life. He was musical and he was in the band for years. He was in the choir at church – just full of life.”
Both Sam and his wife visited the school where he was treated like a celebrity, often to interact with and read to the students. His last appearance at the school was in September when the school celebrated its 30th anniversary.
Born Oct. 14, 1935 in Oakland to Clyde and Marjorie Vaughn, Sam moved to Hughson in 1943 when he was 8. He attended Hughson Elementary School and Hughson High School where he excelled in academics, music and sports. He earned his associate degree from Modesto Junior College, before transferring to San Diego State where he completed a BA degree in Physical Education with minor in music. While in San Diego, he met Cathee Foster and they married on June 27, 1959 in the original Hughson United Methodist Church.
Vaughn served in the Army for three years and was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco where he worked as a physical therapy aide at Letterman General Hospital.
Vaughn taught math and music at Walter White Middle School in Ceres for a year starting in 1961 before moving into administration, focusing on keeping students in school as the Supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance. He often took time to make home visits to make sure students had what they needed to get to school. After retiring from CUSD after 34 years of service, the school board honored him with the naming of a new school in 1994.
During summers, Vaughn was the director of the Hughson Youth Center community pool where he taught swim lessons and coached a successful Hughson swim team. Over a two-year period as a pre-teen he had helped dig and build the Hughson community pool which opened on July 3, 1947.
Sam was also an avid tennis player and passed his skills along to many in the community through lessons to young and old.
Sam and Cathee often opened their home to various teens and young adults who needed a place to stay during challenging times.
Sam participated in the Lions Club, Phi Beta Kappa, Big Brothers, Salvation Army and United Samaritans Foundation and assisted his wife assemble Hughson Christmas baskets. He also volunteered to film the HUHS football games for a number of years.
A member of Hughson United Methodist Church for most of his life, Vaughn was a member of choir which he led for years and could sing tenor and baritone.
He rededicated his life through prayer to Jesus Christ in 2014.
Musically talented, Vaughn was a member of various bands and played the piano, trumpet and other horns, standup bass, electric bass guitar and ukulele.
He enjoyed leading others in sing-alongs with his ukulele at almost any gathering.
With a former seventh grade student, Calvin Kindred and others Vaughn helped form the Harlan Starr Band which played for many years in the Valley and as far away as the Calgary Stampede in Canada.
Kindred later became a band teacher in Ceres schools.
A consummate outdoorsman, Vaughn enjoyed fishing, camping and backpacking in the Sierras with family and visits to the beach and swimming in the ocean. He took the three older girls and a cousin on a four-day, 22-mile backpack trip in the summer of 1972. At age 72, he and daughter Margee along with others from the church hiked Half Dome led by Pastor Tom Hillman.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Cathee Vaughn of Hughson; four daughters, Margee Neer, Judy (Harvey) Marable, Janice (Keith) Herring and Robynn Vaughn; an “adopted” son, Matthew Nicolau; his sister, Joan Russo; numerous grandchildren, including Carlee Herring, Samuel (Ashley) Herring, Marissa (Samuel Hayman), Janae Marable, Isaiah Marable, and Hannah Neer along with Scarlet and Georgia Nicolau; and great-grandchildren Brooks Herring and Isla Hayman; and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his uncle Verne Schrader, and brother-in-law Joe Russo.
