Dr. Peter V. Sampo, 89, of Warner, a dedicated educator and advocate of liberal arts education, passed away on May 27, 2020 at Concord Hospital.

He was born in New Derry, PA on January 25, 1931, the son of Peter and Aurelia Sampo. He was a four-year veteran of the United States Navy, achieving the rank of First Class Petty Officer. He was a graduate of St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA and received a master's degree and Ph.D. in Political Science from Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. Dr. Sampo was a founder and President of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack where he taught for 31 years. He then returned to Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in Warner, which he had helped found in 1973. He was named President Emeritus and continued to teach up until his passing. He had also taught at St. Anselm College, where he founded the Department of Political Science. As a scholar, Dr. Sampo published on education, on the crises in contemporary culture, on St. Thomas More, and Machiavelli. His scholarly interests were religion and politics, the American Founding, international relations, political theory, and liberal education's continuity and relevance. He was the recipient of many awards, including the Governor's Council of New Hampshire Award, the New England Board of Higher Education Award, the Russel Kirk Paideia Prize presented by CiRCE, and the Notre Dame Exemplary Alumnus Award. He gave speeches across the country on the topic of Catholic higher education.

Dr. Sampo's family members include his wife, Mary Mumbach Sampo; four sons, Peter Sampo and his wife Kristin of FL, Michael Sampo and his wife Nancy of Bow, Vincent Sampo and his wife Elizabeth of Canterbury, and David Sampo and his wife Lenka of Bedford; two daughters, Rosanne MacBrien and her husband Andrew of Merrimack, and Theresa Fontanella and her husband Michael of Littleton, MA. He was also loved as "Pap" by his 13 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and took great pleasure spending time with them at their summer home in Northport, ME.

He was predeceased by his first wife, Lenora (DeGrandis) Sampo in 1993.

A private Mass of Christian Burial will take place in Our Lady, Queen of Apostles Chapel, followed by internment with military honors at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts. Phaneuf Funeral Homes and Crematorium, Manchester, is in charge of arrangements. To view an Online Tute, send condolences to the family, or for more information, visit www.phaneuf.net

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Union Leader on Jun. 2, 2020.

Memories and Condolences
for Peter Sampo

19 Entries

Charles Strauch

December 26, 2022

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 Anton Pegis edition of The Summa Theologiae of St. Aquinas. The curriculum Peter organized for the Thomas More Institute´s Rome program was an excellent and extraordinary enterprise in Catholic Liberal Arts education. The focus that year was on the medieval period. It included Louise Cowan´s lectures on Dante, quoting Allen Tate, T.S. Eliot and Jacques Maritain, as she guided students through Dante´s Divine Comedy. Mary Mumbach taught a course on Chaucer´s The Canterbury Tales. Brian Shea, from Holy Cross and Oxford, taught the medieval history and philosophy courses with lectures on Duns Scotus. Robert Stuart Hoyt´s Europe in the Middle Ages provided additional reading. John Mulloy gave lectures on Christopher Dawson as students read Dawson´s The Making of Europe. The setting in Rome amidst ancient monuments, Mass at St. Peter´s, and the Vatican museums nearby, provided unique opportunities for undergraduate education. Pope John Paul II was Pope at the time, recovering well from the 1981 assassination attempt.

Peter discussed the influence of Gerhart Niemeyer and Eric Voegelin at Notre Dame. In many ways Peter´s educational vision was a continuation of Notre Dame President O´Hara´s efforts to bring leading European scholars like Yves Simon and Jacques Maritain to Notre Dame for a fuller appreciation of human nature
and natural law in keeping with the Thomistic tradition and the spiritual truths of the Catholic faith. A conversation that was enriched by Peter´s exposure to Gerhart Niemeyer and Eric Voegelin during his graduate studies at Notre Dame, his own reading of Christopher Dawson and John Henry Newman, and his teaching experiences at St. Anselm´s College. The crisis of education in the 1960s and the Land O´Lakes conference on Catholic education gave rise to fruitful efforts for restoration. Peter´s efforts at Thomas More are worthy of reflection for Catholic educators,
Perhaps not a coincidence that a Notre Dame graduate took the point for this undertaking. Peter´s concerns shared many similarities with Ralph McInerny´s Thomism in an Age of Renewal, Notre Dame´s Professor Charles Rice, the writings of Fr. James Schall, SJ, and the Catholic Studies movement to preserve Catholic Liberal Arts education.

Two students who attended the Rome program became Catholic priests: Fr. Joseph Linck, a scholar on Church History at the Catholic University of America, and Fr. Andrew O´Connor of St. Mary´s in New York. Several others went on to teaching careers in Catholic education. Peter´s legacy continues to touch and inspire many lives and Catholic schools and colleges. A continuation of the blessings in his own life from his teachers at St. Vincent´s College and Notre Dame.

Dennis Naughton

May 5, 2021

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 vividly recall his "one page paper" assignments that forced one to condense one's thoughts into a single page. Once each paper had been submitted, Peter required a one-on-one meeting in which one was required to defend the paper to him. He was demanding and fair, promoting real growth in students. I remember after one of those interviews that he teased me about my plans to go to law school. He opened a file drawer, removed a file, and with a twinkle in his eye, pretended to blow dust from it, indicating that that summed up a career in law. He then told me I should teach, where I could do something important to the future. I had a teaching career of 39 years, always with him in my mind as a model. The world is substantially diminished with Peter no longer in it.

Frances Wawrzynek

July 19, 2020

May Perpetual light shine upon him.

Kevin and Lise Rei hard

June 20, 2020

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

Kevin Lieberman

June 12, 2020

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 scholar. Then detoured to the Seminary and now a priest joyfully serving God and man in these increasingly dark times. 20 years and 4 countries later, I can say that what we had was unique. It surely has been disseminated in hidden and incalculable ways. Sampo and friends made a para-liturgy of the academic life possibly misleading, but once steered from Scylla and Charybdis, was just the spirit of the academy needed for our times. After mystic, came citizenship. Zoon politikon we are born. Cant hid from it. Assume it, with knowledge and responsibility. Lastly, by no means least, the humanity, one modeled after Thomas More: a genuine spirit of fatherhood towards his students, a steady joy as he steered an institution through constantly unsteady waters and that good hearty laugh to boot. I have just celebrated a mass in thanksgiving for your life and as viaticum for your journey. Godspeed! We have little doubts of your successful arrival. Kevin Lieberman

E Cabello TMC '98

June 8, 2020

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.

thomas lee

June 6, 2020

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.

Katy (Borse) Wilson

June 5, 2020

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 he was my friend. What a window into the power and fruitfulness of humility. Thank you, Dr. Sampo. You were and are a great blessing to me. Rest In Peace!
Katy (Borse) Wilson, TMC 04

Michael & Linda Verlander

June 5, 2020

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)

Dave Witham

June 4, 2020

My condolences to Prof. Sampo's sons, daughters, and grandchildren for your loss. In 1968, when I was a senior, I was a student in his Interdisciplinary Seminar at St. Anselm College. As a teacher he was a challenging, but fair, taskmaster who as an old-school educator modeled the reality that scholarship and superior teaching skills require hard work, never-ending research, and good interpersonal skills with one's students and teaching associates. I couldn't have asked for a better influence as I prepared to enter the profession. And his commitment to academic freedom and the inquiring intellect were his highest priorities, as I well remember in 1964 at St. Anselm. When a small group of protestors against the then-escalating US involvement in the Vietnam War set up tables in the Old Café at which to distribute literature and discuss the issues, your father embodied the spirit of free inquiry and personal engagement with the issues of the day. Regardless of his own opinions, he organized a symposium that night in the Abbey Theater, during which the war resistors presented their case and students and faculty asked questions and offered comments. When at one point some students became disrespectful to the guests, Prof. Sampo from the lectern reprimanded them with, "Now stop that." I hope you're smiling to think of his attempt, as always, to keep the proceedings civil and on track. Thank you for your patience in reading this long remembrance of a towering presence in NH's academic community. Again, my sympathy to your families.

Cathy Echaniz-Beck

June 4, 2020

Dear Dr. Sampo will be greatly missed! Thank you for caring so much about your students, dedicating your life to knowledge and education. I always remember how you even spent part of your weekends with us, coming to share in the communitas of Saturday breakfasts. Condolences to Dr. Mumbach-Sampo and all of your family.

Deacon J. H. Toner Toner

June 4, 2020

I knew Dr. Sampo from my time as a student of his at St. Anselm's. He was an extraordinary scholar, teacher, and gentleman. He profoundly influenced the course of my life, as I took my Ph.D. in political science at Notre Dame, following his example. So very many of us are greatly blessed to have known him and to have been his students: "The learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as stars for all eternity" (Daniel 12:3 JB). May his soul, and the souls of the all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. --Deacon James H. Toner, St. Anselm's College Class of 1968.

Heather Lulves

June 4, 2020

To his wife Mary (nee Mumbach) my deepest condolences. As to his numerous family members as well. Also in celebration of a life well-lived. In Joyous celebration we will remember.

Kathleen Kelly Marks

June 4, 2020

Dearest Dr. Sampo, So I see that the background is the Bernini angel with a cross from the ponte sant'angelo. Rome is as good a place to start as any. Thank you for taking us to Rome, twice! And then for trusting me to take over for Paul that semester he finished his dissertation. It was truly one of the most lyrical times of my life! It was there, teaching the Aeneid, that your whole project came to me; Rome was not a place to stay, but a green world of the "old verities" to be translated, carried across, to the New World. To our fellow Americans. You once liked my talk in the Caf on the "portability of place." I miss the Thomas More campus; I miss Rome (even when I have recently been); I miss you on this earth already. But, I will carry all in my heart until we meet again. Ciao ciao, KK

Karen Sloper

June 2, 2020

Mike & Family,
The American Red Cross sends their deepest sympathies in the loss of your Dad.

Andre Demers

June 2, 2020

Truly a magnificent soul. A student of his in 1966, I used several small lessons he taught me throughout my life always remembering who had taught them to me. I felt a sense of some awe each time our paths crossed over many years. I pray for his family.

Kate Skidd

June 2, 2020

Dr. Sampo, You will be sorely missed. Thank you for your example and your sacrifices! Prayers for the repose of your soul and the consolation of your wife and family! Love, Kate Skidd

June 2, 2020

Dr. Sampo, Thank you for your service RDM Windham NH

Lydia Smith

June 2, 2020

I am a junior at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, which Dr. Sampo founded. I never met him, but I am immensely grateful for the college that he built out of practically nothing, because he had a vision of Catholic liberal education that he believed in with all his heart, and pursued it regardless of the cost. He has left behind a momentous legacy. May it live on 'in saecula, saeculorum'.

Lux perpetua luceant eis, et eius anima per misericordiam Dei reqiescat in pace.

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