Sammy Earl Ecton

Sam Ecton, of Fort Worth, passed away peacefully January 10, 2025, with family at his side. Sam was born May 8, 1945, to parents Raymond and Jenny Pearl (Keefover) Ecton, and raised in Tulsa, OK.

After discharge from the Air Force, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. He met Barbara Brinkman at Mills Memorial Hospital in San Mateo, where she worked as a registered nurse and he was a biomedical technician repairing hospital equipment. They married Sept 8, 1974 at First Baptist Church of Daly City. Later they moved to Amarillo, Texas where they raised their three children, Philip, Donna, and Mark. Twenty years ago Sam and Barbara moved to Fort Worth, TX. His beloved wife Barbara passed in 2015.

Sam was a devoted husband and father. He enjoyed spending time with his children. His children have fond memories of trips to Pistol Pete’s Pizza in Amarillo, sharing a large cheese pizza, playing skee ball and arcade games. He embraced his role as father, teaching his kids to ride bikes, drive, play guitar and chess. When Barbara was working the night shift at the hospital, he cooked a hot dinner, typically a variation of gourmet Chicken, Tuna, or Hamburger Helper. He was a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners football team, with an enthusiasm that was viewed with a mix of amusement and tolerance by his family. An avid chess player, he would take his children to chess tournaments where he played visiting grandmasters. He had a lifelong interest and aptitude in electronics, earning an associates degree in electronics from Amarillo College, and in the 1980’s he owned a TV and VCR repair business.

Barbara would often tell the story of how she first knew Sam as the man who put gospel tracts in the hospital dumbwaiter, because first and foremost Sam was a man of deep faith in his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He ensured his children were raised in the faith, to know the great hope we have in our salvation through Christ. He took joy in his grand-daughter Elizabeth’s decision this past September to profess her faith in Christ through baptism.

Sam was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara, his twin brother, Danny, and his parents. He is survived by his three children, sons Philip and Mark Ecton of Fort Worth, daughter Donna Ponchak (Michael), and granddaughter Elizabeth Ponchak of Boiling Springs, PA, brother John Ecton, sister-in-laws Vicky Ecton and Donna Brinkman-Jacobs (Tom), and many nieces and nephews.

2 Timothy 4:7-8: “ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

Committal at DFW National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy, Dallas, Texas, at 2:15 pm on Friday, February 14, 2025.

Memorial service will be at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 7001 Trail Lake Dr. Fort Worth, Texas at 2 pm, February 15, 2025.