Elaine Rose Sampson

Elaine Rose Sampson (formerly Favuzza), 55, of Bernardston, died on April 4, 2011, after a 10-year struggle with breast cancer. Born on March 10, 1956, in Cambridge, she was the daughter of the late Salvatore and Satenig (Vanetzian) Favuzza. She was the sister of Sal Favuzza of Shrewsbury, and the daughter-in-law of John and Georgette Sampson of Lexington. Elaine was raised in Watertown, growing up with friends and neighbors from all around the world. She graduated from Watertown High School in 1974 and continued her education at Merrimack College, graduating in 1978 with a BA in psychology. She later became a Licensed Social Worker in Massachusetts, working nearly 20 years in the fields of home care and hospital and nursing home social work and discharge planning. Elaine especially loved serving and learning from the elderly as well as implementing creative programs for them involving writing, poetry and the arts. Having cultivated her love for sewing since an early age, she also designed her own line of custom-sewn travel bags. Elaine met her beloved husband, Thomas Sampson, in 1986, after his return to the US from Guatemala where he was a Peace Corps volunteer. After marrying in 1988, they moved to Vermont and later to New Mexico and Minnesota before returning back home to western Massachusetts in 2002. A long journey with chronic illness began for Elaine in 1991, reawakening a deep spiritual hunger within her heart. Ardently seeking after spiritual things since her youth, nearly 30 years later, she accepted the invitation to become a Christian in 2001. She embraced Christianity because it answered her most fundamental questions about the meaning of life and her purpose in it, it sustained her through many years of physical pain and it provided her with rest and reassurance about the past, present and future through its prophetic teachings. Christianity became a living faith for both Elaine and Tom providing peace, encouragement and hope, especially during the difficult years that followed her breast cancer diagnosis in 2001. Elaine was the author of the book, Grace For the Journey: A Story of Illness, Hope and Faith and of the CD Into My Heart: Scripture and Prayer For A Hope-Filled Life. She considered both projects ministries distributing hundreds copies of both the book and the CD to hospices, prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, the military and individuals. She was also a member of the Mountain View Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Cancer Connection breast cancer support group, SHARE NY and the Scribes and Scribblers writers' group of western Massachusetts. A memorial service / celebration for Elaine will be held at the Mountain View Seventh-day Adventist Church, Vernon, Vermont on Sunday, May 1, 2011 at 2 p.m. Her wish is that you give of your love, time, encouragement and resources to those in need.