Sam Kosanke

1932 - 2019

Sam Kosanke

Samuel Edward Kosanke was born August 24, 1932 in Cottage Grove, Oregon. He attended and graduated from Cottage Grove High School in 1951. He worked at the Ford Garage in Cottage Grove until he joined the Air Force in December, 1952 during the Korean War. He was sent as one of the last two people to study at the watch repair school with the Army at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, because the Air Force did not have that program. He became a watch and instrument specialist in the Air Force and was stationed at various locations: Austin, Texas for 6 months, then to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio for two years. During that time, he worked at the PX as a watch repairman during the evenings. He was then given top secret clearance and sent to Washington, D.C. as part of the 1299 Special Missions. At one time, he worked on President Eisenhower's small plane. He worked on the planes for diplomats and various dignitaries. He was then sent to Colorado Springs, Colorado as an instrument technician. He became a staff sergeant and barracks chief. During his stay in Colorado Springs, he worked at Zales Jewelry as a watch repairman in the evening to improve public relations between the Air Force and the public.

After his service in the Air Force ended in December of 1956, he worked at Boeing until 1957 when they had to layoff many people. He then joined the Toledo Scales Co. In 1958 he joined the Hobart Corporation where he worked for 41 years full-time, first as a serviceman and then shop foreman and office manager and finally a sales service representative. He added two more years of part-time work at Hobart after he retired. Throughout his employment, in his spare time, he repaired antique watches and clocks for many individuals, some celebrities and many well-known antique dealers in the Seattle area. He continued this work after he retired from Hobart. He had a passion for antique watches and clocks which was unsurpassed, often called, "Sam, the clock man." Over the years he did work for Greenfield Galleries, David Weatherford, Valley Furniture Antiques and Interiors, Menashe Jewelers, St. Charles Antiques, Jean Williams Antiques, and others, some of whom have closed over the years. Sam is well-known among the clock and watch collectors in the Seattle area and belonged to the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, as well as the Local Chapter 50. But above all, he was a wonderful and the nicest of gentlemen, loving father and husband.

He married Karen Vandervort in 1966 and lived in Burien, Washington. They moved to Normandy Park, Washington in 1978. They had two children, Susan and Scott. He and Karen were separated and divorced in 1996. He met Eriko De La Mare in 1998 and were married in 2010. Sam died on July 15, 2019 from complications from a stroke. Sam is survived by his wife, Eriko and his two children, Susan Loosmore and Scott Kosanke and three grandchildren, Stan Loosmore and Breanna Loosmore, and Kyle Kosanke. He will be interred at Bonney Watson, Washington Memorial Park and Mortuary.

There will be a celebration of his life at a later date.