Sam Zavelo Obituary (1926 - 2018)

Sam Zavelo, 92, passed away November 11, 2018. Sam was born to Sam and Hilda Zavelo on August 20, 1926, in Eldorado, Arkansas. At the age of 16, Sam entered Wentworth Military Academy, in Lexington, Missouri. He played football at Wentworth and graduated from the school in 1945. In the summer of 1945, Sam received an appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point. Ever the avid sports enthusiast, during the holiday break that winter Sam decided to try skiing for the first time. Unfortunately, he seriously injured his knee in a ski accident, resulting in a medical discharge in 1946. After his father passed away in January 1946, Sam and his mother moved to Monroe, Louisiana. Later that summer, he began his studies at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. He graduated from LSU with a BS degree in May 1949. The following year, Sam moved to Tucson, Arizona, where Hilda and his stepfather were living, and opened a sporting goods store that became the main supplier to the University of Arizona tennis team. In Tucson, Sam met the love of his life, Donna Wacknov at an AEPi open house at the University of Arizona. They became engaged in early 1951 and that May, they were married in Kansas City. Their sons, Donald Bruce and Michael Scott, were born in 1953 and 1958. Sam devoted his entire working life to sales. He opened a linen shop in Brookside in the 1950s and left it to become a sales representative in the chemical industry. After a lengthy tenure with Certified Laboratories of Dallas, Texas, Sam struck out on his own in 1974 and founded the Nu-Life Laboratories. Sam’s son Scott is president of the company today. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Wilma Marx. Survivors include his wife Donna Zavelo; sons, Donald (Anne) Zavelo, Scott (Kimberly) Zavelo; grandchildren, Zaley Zavelo Nelson, Sagan Zavelo, Myles Zavelo, Dr. Oliver Gentile and two great grandchildren, Ada and Torunn Nelson. Funeral services will be 10:30am Friday, November 16, 2018 at the Louis Memorial Chapel, 6830 Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO. Interment will be Mt. Carmel Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Wacknov Scholarship Fund @ Kehilath Israel Synagogue or to the American Heart Association. Online condolences may be left for the family