Sammy Benavides

Peters Creek resident Sammy Gene Benavides, 57, died Nov. 22, 2007, at Alaska Regional Hospital.
A visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m., with a service at 11 a.m., Saturday at United Methodist Church, 16430 Old Glenn Highway, Chugiak. The Rev. Robert Durr will officiate. Pallbearers will include Eddie Metro, Howard Haugstad, Ron Owens, Lance Campbell and Sam Edge. Burial will be at noon Monday at Fort Richardson National Cemetery.
Mr. Benavides was born Feb. 27, 1950, in Lynwood, Calif., to Samuel and Theresa Benavides. He graduated from Rowland High School in California.
He served in the U.S. Navy and was a Vietnam combat veteran. He moved to Alaska in 1974 and worked as a longshoreman and stevedore at the Port of Anchorage for 31 years.
His family wrote: "He loved playing the guitar, and if pressed, he would give a small piano recital to friends and family. Sam could pick up a violin or harmonica and create a song. Gardening, wildlife, artwork and the universe were areas of great interest to him. A born fisherman, he loved diving off the coast of California as a young man. He also enjoyed the underwater world while living in Hawaii. He traveled to many places, but enjoyed living and raising a family in Peters Creek, Alaska, the best.
"He lived life 'to the max' and as a result, situations would bring him back to seeking the faith of his childhood. After returning from Vietnam, he walked up the Pacfic Coast trail starting in Barstow, Calif., in 1973. He arrived in Alaska after nine months, and was hired on as a hunting guide outside of Tok. During a Christmas visit to Anchorage in December 1975, he saw a young woman. Returning to his cabin by Crystal Springs, he felt that God told him, 'She will be your wife,' and so could not get her off his mind. Sure enough, that girl became Mrs. Sam Benavides on Nov. 23, 1977, in Seward. It was a marriage that lasted just one day shy of 30 years.
"He would be remembered by his precious, kind, beautiful, godly mother as being her 'sunny boy.'
"He gave all he could to supporting his family and was so generous in making life a grand adventure."
Mr. Benavides is survived by his wife, Susan Benavides; daughters, Hannah, Sarah, Molly and Emily Benavides; mother, Theresa Benavides; brother, John Benavides; sisters, Judy Sarafin, JoAnn Hunnicutt, Katie Nelson, Jenny Lightfoot and Carol Garrison; nephews, Tommy Lamb, Jason and Jeffrey Sarafin, Joey, Johnny and Thomas Baldwin, Daniel Nelson, and Johnny and Brian Benavides; and nieces, Jamie Benavides, Shannon Lightfoot, Theresa and Julie Anderson, Lisa Lewis and Maggie Del Rosario.
He was preceded in death by his father, Samuel Benavides; nephew, Matthew Sarafin; and niece, Katie-Jo Nelson.