Samuel Terrell Lankford

Samuel Terrell Lankford, age 93, died Saturday, August 24, 2019 at Piedmont Fayette Hospital in Fayetteville, Georgia. Born in Penfield, Georgia on March 26, 1926, he was the son of the late Carroll Harvey Lankford, Sr. and Floria Mae Burnette Lankford.

Sam left school at the age of 16 to work at Union Manufacturing in Union Point, Georgia; he obtained his GED in 1951. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946, spending part of that time as a cook on the U.S.S. Laffey. Sam moved to Atlanta in 1947 where he learned the craft of plumbing from an uncle. He worked for various plumbing companies until 1956 when he joined Thompson Brothers Plumbing. He worked there as a commercial plumber until they went out of business in 1977. Sam would go on to work as a plumbing inspector for the DeKalb County Development Department, retiring in 1991 as an assistant chief of the plumbing division.

Sam moved to Riverdale, Georgia in the early 1980s, living there until 2013. He spent the last six years of his life in senior care facilities. He loved his gardens and always had a yard filled with flowers and vegetables. In the winter months, he did needlework and made quilts. Sam was diagnosed with dementia in 2016.

He was preceded in death by his three brothers, Carroll “Sport” Lankford, Jr., Grover Lankford, and Clark Lankford; and two sisters, Lucile Epps and Alice Griffith. He is survived by his five children: Bonita Streetman (Randall) of Whitesburg, Georgia, Jennifer Craine (Don) of Daytona Beach, Florida, Denise Murphy (Charles) of Manassas Park, Virginia, Michael Lankford (Cindy) of Sharpsburg, Georgia, and Vanessa Marston (Randy) of Sharpsburg, Georgia; nine grandchildren: Brian Streetman, Jonathan Streetman, Emily Moody (Michael), Chris Murphy (Ashley), Kevin Murphy, Nikki Lankford, Chris Lankford (Stephanie), Kayla Marston, and Jennah MacPherson (Stevie); great-grandson, Brandon Streetman; two sisters, Elizabeth Epps and Betty Elrod; and a number of nieces and nephews.

Graveside services will be held Tuesday, August 27, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at Bairds Baptist Church Cemetery, 42 Bairdstown Loop, Union Point, GA 30669 with Rev. Daniel Holdredge officiating.  In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations be made in Sam’s memory to Bairds Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, c/o Dorothy Wray, 1311 Community Drive, Union Point, GA 30669.  McCommons Funeral Home, 109 W. Broad St., Greensboro, GA, (706) 453-2626, is in charge of arrangements. Visit us at www.mccommonsfuneralhome.com to sign the online guest register.

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