Giambelluca, avid supporter of sports in Southeast Missouri, dies at 87

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff has lost its greatest fan.

Sam Giambelluca, a father of five, a father figure to countless more and the father of the Poplar Bluff Museum, died Monday morning at his home. He was 87.

"He did more for Poplar Bluff than anybody ever has," said Derland Moore, who played 14 seasons in the NFL.

"Most people don't even know it. He was a premiere person and people like him don't come around very often."

Giambelluca's visitation will be held Thursday starting at 4 p.m. at Cotrell Funeral Home. His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

Simply known as Sam or Sam Gam, he may best fit the moniker Mr. Poplar Bluff.

There are two lifetime achievement awards named in his honor and the track at Poplar Bluff's Morrow Stadium was named for Giambelluca in 2001. It was Giambelluca who helped raise money for a renovation of the stadium in 1995 that included an all-weather track surface.

He organized banquets honoring athletes from around Southeast Missouri for over 60 years, helped with parades, a former city celebration "Dallas Days," track meets for elementary students and future Olympians.

He helped raise an incalculable amount of money for various things around Poplar Bluff.

Over the years several people said of him, "Every time you saw Sam coming you knew he needed money for something and you knew you were going to give it to him."

"Sam changed my life," Moore said.

Giambelluca, who started the SEMO track club in 1962, convinced Moore's father, Highway Patrolman Paul Moore, to let him travel to compete in the AAU regional meet in Oklahoma.

Moore recalls that when Sam and Judy came to his farm his father towered over Sam.

"My dad was a big man, so Sam had his chin right in my dad's chest," Moore recalled Monday.

"Sam said, 'I know you can knock me down, but you're going to get tired of knocking me down before I get tired of getting back up.'"

It was at that track meet that University of Oklahoma track coach J.D. Martin saw Moore throw the shot put.

"Sam said, 'Coach he's been overlooked," Moore said.

Moore was offered a track scholarship and then tried out as a walk-on for the Sooners football team. He earned a starting position on the defensive line, became an All-American and was drafted in the second round by the New Orleans Saints where he played 13 seasons and was a Pro Bowl selection.

"Sam adopted me more or less," Moore said. "There's been a lot of good men that's walked this earth but I've never met one better than him."

Like his father, Giambelluca sold shoes at Bob Evans Shoe Store on South Main Street. He purchased the store in 1974 and operated it until his retirement in the early 1990s as Sam's Shoes in the Valley Plaza Shopping Center.

On Feb. 2, 1954, Sam and Judy were married at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. A sign on the store managed by Sam that day said, "Closed for Sam's wedding, be back at 10 o'clock." The two celebrated their 61st anniversary in February.

A 1946 graduate of Poplar Bluff High School, Giambelluca was on the track team and was manager of the football and basketball teams. He was on the yearbook staff for three years and was the editor as a senior. He also wrote for the school newspaper and after school wrote for the Daily American Republic for two years.

Giambelluca was fresh out of high school when he first held a banquet to honor the all-conference football team from Southeast Missouri. Missouri football coach Don Faurot was the guest speaker. Giambelluca invited other famous people to town to speak, including, coaches Dan Devine, Chuck Fairbanks, Frank Beamer and broadcasters Joe Garagolia and Jay Randolph.

The 70th annual Gridiron Banquet will be held later this year.

Since 1979 the banquet has presented the Carr Trophy to the most outstanding football player in Southeast Missouri. A similar award for the most outstanding male and female basketball players has been presented since 1984.

Giambelluca started the basketball award banquet in 1959 to honor the all-conference team for the SEMO Conference.

In 2009, the Letter Club started the Lifetime Achievement Award in Giambelluca's honor and has presented it to an individual for service to Missouri high school athletics.

"Sam is the patriarch of Poplar Bluff," Chris Rushin said. "He loved this city and this city loved him and his family. It's a tremendous loss but what an incredible legacy he's left with us."

Giambelluca also started the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 with E.E. "Bus" Carr, Bob Gray, Tom Hoover, Bob Thacker, John Lawson, Dr. R.W. Huntington, Paul Hogg and Stan Berry.

The 32nd induction banquet will be held Sept. 24 to honor two athletes and a state championship golf team. It will bring the total number to 88 individuals and eight teams honored.

Giambelluca was inducted in the Sports Hall of Fame in 1986 and served as president emeritus of the board until his death.

"He was a great organizer," said Tom Hoover, current president of the Sports Hall of Fame.

"What people don't realize he organized a lot more events than athletics."

And he did it in the days before email, typing with two fingers on a manual typewriter and sending letters all over the country.

Giambelluca served as board president for the Poplar Bluff Museum for 20 years starting in 1988. He and (former city manager) Jim Moss worked with the Poplar Bluff R-I School Board to purchase the Mark Twain School building, located on Main Street, for $1.

Volunteers turned the school, built in 1910, into a museum that is open each Sunday. Its sign in front read "Rest in peace Sam Giambelluca" on Monday with the American flag at half staff.

"That was his idea from the start and his work and dedication in getting other people to assist him made the reality out of that old building, which is a jewel of a museum because of Sam," said Jay Githens, president of the Museum board.

"I always give him total credit for that. Everything you see in there is a product of some idea that he had and something that he persevered to see that it was done. My hat's off to him. He was a wonderful individual."

Giambelluca was the national chairman of the AAU/USA Junior Olympic Track and Field program for 16 years. Poplar Bluff hosted the national meet in 1966, '72 and '74 while Giambelluca served as a referee for the meet from 1967-80.

From 1963-90 the Ozark Association Junior Olympic meet brought between 1,500 and 2,000 athletes to Poplar Bluff. Seven went on to become members of the U.S. Olympic teams, including gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who still holds the stadium record for the long jump.

In April, Joyner-Kersee returned to Poplar Bluff for the annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet where she helped present Giambelluca with a lifetime achievement award.

In 1991, the Ozark Association started the Sam Giambelluca Award given annually to an outstanding volunteer.

Giambelluca also was co-director of the first AAU/USA Junior Olympic National Basketball Championship held in Poplar Bluff.

He received a 25-year service pin from AAU in 1992.

A longtime track and field official, Giambelluca is a member of the Missouri Track & Cross Country Coaches Association's Hall of Fame since 1982.

"Sam was a big supporter in all of our athletics, in community projects," said Bill Caputo, former track coach and athletic director at Poplar Bluff. "He was really into helping kids. He helped furnish some of our kids that couldn't buy shoes and things like that. He would always find a way to get those kids what they needed."

Giambelluca also coached the Sacred Heart elementary and junior high track team that won several county conference championships. He started the annual elementary track meet in Poplar Bluff, which is now named in his honor.

Giambelluca died just over three months after his alma mater won its first state championship in track and field. He attended the PB Invitational in May to watch the Poplar Bluff girls team that won the MSHSAA Class 4 team title later that month.

"Sam Giambelluca spent his entire life giving to the youth of this community, preserving the history of this community, and being a great mentor to those he came in contact with," Poplar Bluff R-I Superintendent Chris Hon said. "He gave to Poplar Bluff his time, talent, treasures, and dedication. Many of the young men and women that he inspired are now paying it forward with service toward future generations."

Giambelluca started the Three Rivers College Raiders Booster Club, helping come up with the Rocky Raider mascot drawn on his kitchen table by Raider player Ron Johnson. For many years Giambelluca published the programs for the Raiders, winning national awards for his work, and kept score for the team.

When the Raiders advanced to national tournaments in basketball or baseball, it was Giambelluca who led efforts to pay for the trips or have a parade welcome the teams home.

"When you saw him, he was always uplifting and had nice things to say," said Bob Cradic, who played basketball for the Mules and was the first men's basketball coach at Three Rivers College.

"You always felt good when you saw Sam.

When the Mules football team completed an undefeated season in 1966, Giambelluca drove back from Jefferson City in a blinding snow storm to prepare a victory parade for the team when it arrived back in town.

"I've had a lot of people in different areas say, 'You know what our town needs is a Sam Giambelluca like you have in Poplar Bluff.' And that says a lot," former Mules football coach Tom Telle said.

"He will be hard to replace, that's for sure."

Giambelluca founded the Mid-South Senior Olympics, was the first president of the Poplar Bluff Little League and was on the city's Park Department board for 15 years, serving as president twice.

Sam and Judy organized "Dallas Days" in the 1970s, helped with the county fair and July Fourth parades and the Year 2000 celebration. He had champion pickles at the SEMO District fair and was twice named citizen of the year, first in 1966 and in 1981 by the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce. A charter Elk, Giambelluca helped run the annual Hoop Shoot contest and was also a member of the Knights of Columbus.

"I considered him a friend," longtime Poplar Bluff basketball coach Kirk Chronister said. "Anytime you needed something, Sam was always willing to do it. He started the four-year lettermen recognition and any way in which he could find a way to recognize athletes and coaches, he would do so."

Mayor Betty Absheer grew up hearing her older brothers talk about "Sam Gam," but it wasn't until she became an adult that Absheer got to know the man responsible for starting basketball, softball and track youth sports leagues for the area.

Giambelluca was someone who reached beyond even the borders of his hometown to inspire and include young athletes, according to Absheer.

"What he has done for youth, not only in our community ... that is an important investment," said Absheer.

Giambelluca has left behind a legacy that will be hard to fill, according to city manager Mark Massingham, who grew up with Giambelluca's daughters on Lester Street.

"Poplar Bluff lost a great person," Massingham said of his godfather. "Sam has probably done more than any other individual I can think of to help the youth of Poplar Bluff."

Massingham heard the stories growing up of how Giambelluca would buy shoes for children in need.

When athletes didn't have the money for food during away games, he made sure they didn't go hungry.

And when students earned a spot in college, but couldn't afford the tuition, Giambelluca helped raise the money, Massingham said.

"Poplar Bluff is a lot better place because Sam lived here," he said. "It didn't matter where the kids came from or who they were, if they needed help, he was there. ... It's our loss, but heaven's gain."

He was born Samuel Leo Giambelluca on June 28, 1928, at Lucy Lee Hospital. His wife of 61 years, the former Judy Perry of Bloomfield, survives with his five daughters, Denise Giambelluca of Elizabethtown, Ky., Teresa Salyer and husband Clinton of Poplar Bluff, Elaine Guthrie of Fort Collins, Colo., Mary Glasgow and husband Wayne of Chickasha, Okla., and Angee McDaniel and husband Scott of Columbia, Mo.; seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

(DAR writers Scott Borkgren, Donna Farley and Ben Striker contributed to this story.)