Jerry J. Sample

Dr. Jerry J. Sample ROCK HILL Dr. Jerry Jordan Sample, 70, died quietly in his sleep at his home May 27. For more than 40 years, he was a partner in Shiland Family Practice and its predecessor, Ebenezer Medical Clinic. His family is grateful he was able to enjoy plaudits at his recent retirement party, and to have his family together to celebrate his birthday just Saturday. Funeral services will take place Tuesday, May 29 at 2:30 p.m. at St. John's Methodist Church with Reverend Debra Quilling Smith and Dr. Tim McClendon officiating, where he and his family have been longtime and active members. The family will receive friends following the service in the Saint John's Center. At his death, Dr. Sample was medical director of his practice and was to retire at the end of May. He had accepted a part-time position, to start in late June as the medical director of Palmetto Volunteers in Medicine, a free clinic established by his longtime partner Dr. Hartwell Hildebrand. He was a leader in his profession and had served as chief of staff at the former York General Hospital. Jerry was a devoted alumnus of Clemson University, class of 1964, and was a regular at Tiger football games. He graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1968 followed by two years in the U.S. Navy, where he attained the rank of Lt. Commander. Following a residency at the then Charlotte Memorial Hospital, he joined the former Ebenezer Medical Clinic to begin four decades of service to his thousands of patients and his adopted hometown. Jerry had a warm, calming touch as a physician; patients learned to expect a good joke or a sympathetic story even as a physical exam was in progress. The humor belied a diagnostic skill for which he was recognized. When not doting on his family, especially his grandchildren, Jerry could often be found on a tractor mowing grass and weeds at "The Pond", a retreat southwest of Rock Hill that included a barn, a cabin and a pond reputed but never proven to contain live fish. The cabin was periodically home to oyster roasts and to meetings of the Rock Hill Monday Night Football Club, formed 38 years ago by friends and neighbors in Shiland Hills. The group has been in "spring training" preparing for its 38th season of every Monday night in the fall and winter; Jerry usually has signaled time to go by rising at halftime and announcing "I've got surgery in the morning." It was his favorite forum for exchange of nostalgia among old friends, strong opinions and jokes so old they have been numbered. Jerry was born in Fort Bragg, NC in 1942, but grew up in Ridge Spring, SC. He is survived by his wife, Harriet Chandler Sample; his children Mary Ellen Sample Robinson of North Augusta, Ga. and David Sample and his wife Leah of Rock Hill; his three grandchildren, and his brother, Dr. John Wendell Sample, Jr. of Charleston, SC . He was predeceased by his parents, John Wendell Sample and Helen Jordan Sample of Ridge Spring. In lieu of flowers, the Sample family suggests gifts to St. John's Methodist Church, Clemson University or Palmetto Volunteers in Medicine. Condolences may be made at www.greenefuneralhome.net.