Dr. Peter V Sampo

Peter taught a legendary course on political philosophy during the Rome program in Trastevere in 1983. Conversations on Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Locke, Hooker, Burke, Rousseau, Strauss, and Voegelin spilled out of the classroom from Peter´s lectures with his students enthused and energized. A student in that class gave me a copy of Eric Voegelin´s `The New Science of Politics´ , one of the texts Peter was using. He also taught a Latin course on Cicero and guided students through the...

It was quite by accident that I signed up for Peter's American Government class at St. Anselm's in 1963. That was the best accident I ever had. Peter was a superb Socratic teacher. I took every one of his courses I could, along with those of Jack Crutcher, whom he had recruited from Notre Dame. "Sampo" had a reputation on campus as formidable in his reading lists and and expectations. Quite simply, he was the best teacher I ever had at any level and had a profound impact on my life. I...

May Perpetual light shine upon him.

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.
Kevin and Lise Reichard

To children and grandchildren, to Dr. Mary (Mumbach) Sampo, me sincerest condolences, my prayers. In your name Dr. P. Sampo, Id like to say that Thomas More College was one of the most crucial instruments of Gods providence in my life. TMC sent my adolescent world reeling. Entered in a soul searching boy with some pop-rousseauian ideas and out came a gentlemen and a scholar, as my grandmother would say. Then shipped off, thanks to Sampos letter of recommendation, to UDs IPS program, Olin...

Dr. Sampo was an amazing professor. He brought out your best. He had an amazing network of friends and people he knew. When I worked in the white house at TMC, I would always hear him on the phone in his office discussing business, usually with a "ho-ho-ho" in there somewhere. How he started 2 colleges, built them up, made TMC into something meaningful that others could value, and kept it running for so many years is a tribute to his genius and personality. He will be greatly missed.

I was a colleague of Dr. Sampo's during his last years at Saint Anselm College. His warm, generous personality and his intellectual vigor have remained with me over these many years. He was steadfast in his beliefs, and professed them with a logic and depth that was challenging to his questioners. I am privileged to have him consider me a friend. Requiescat in pace.

My deepest condolences to those who mourn the loss of our beloved Dr. Sampo. He is a figure that looms large in my heart and who quite directly changed the course of my whole life, and yet, when a fixture of my daily activities on campus, was so natural a friend. I didn't feel the disparity that most certainly existed between us in status, intellect, accomplishment, or virtue. I see more clearly now, as I read remembrances of his life, that he was a giant in his work, and yet when I knew him...

Prayers for Dr. Sampo's eternal rest and for the comfort and consolation of those who loved him. Our family is indebted to Dr. Sampo, in person and in work, since our education at TMC has so informed our life decisions and calling to teach and to grow in virtue. Requiescat in pace. Michael (TMC '01) & Linda Verlander (TMC '99)