“Life Story,” posted each Saturday on Leader Publications’ website, focuses on one individual’s impact on his or her community. Today’s story is written by Laura Marlow.
Sam McCreary was the guy who remembered.
“He had an uncanny ability to remember all kinds of facts,” said his daughter, Patti Williams, 56, of the Festus area. “A few years back, we had a 50th anniversary party for my mom and dad, and we had probably 60 or more people there.
“He proceeded to stand up and introduce everybody. And he didn’t just know their names; he knew little facts and things, and he said a little something about each of them.”
Mr. McCreary suffered a serious stroke on May 1, his daughter said. He was hospitalized but never regained consciousness, and died on May 7 at age 88. He outlived his wife, Norma, by 12 years.
His unusually sharp memory for numbers led to an amusing situation some years ago.
“His big thing was that he knew the license plate number of every car. That’s what he was known for around town,” Williams said. “I was talking to Ron Scaggs, the former Festus police chief, and he said he was at the barber the day after Dad died. The barber told him the story of how Dad was at work at PPG, and there was a car blocking a doorway or something. They made an announcement over the P.A. – you know, ‘There is a car with license number 43D79 that needs to be moved’ or whatever, and my father pipes up and says, ‘Oh, that’s so-and-so’s car.’ As the town got bigger, he couldn’t keep up with it. But 40 or 50 years ago, he knew them all.”
The relationships he made in his 37 years at Pittsburgh Plate Glass in Crystal City were some of the most important in Mr. McCreary’s life.
“He spent his life at PPG, and at some point, just about everyone around here worked there,” Williams said. “He knew everybody. He’s been retired 35 years, and he still kept in touch with his buddies from work.”
Although he kept a ton of information in his head, Mr. McCreary kept detailed written records as well.
“I honestly have never seen anything like this in my life,” his daughter said. “He had these notebooks, and he wrote just everything down in them. He could tell you when a sidewalk was poured on a particular street. He kept a record of everything. Money he spent, what work he had done on the cars. He had everything catalogued. My sister was reading me some stuff, and it was just shocking.”
Mr. McCreary spent a year and a half in Europe serving with the U.S. Army during World War II.
“Like a lot of the guys his age, he talked very little about it,” Williams said. “He was never one to brag about himself; I knew he had a Purple Heart but I didn’t know he had five Bronze Stars.”
Williams said she regrets not talking more to her father about his war years, particularly his hobby during his time in Europe.
“He had hundreds of pictures he took over in Europe,” she said. “I wish I had thought to ask him about it. What kind of camera did he have? What were the logistics of trudging through central Europe for more than a year? How did he get them back here?
“Now we will never know.”
Mr. McCreary was an unapologetic patriot, and flew his colors proudly – and not just at home.
“He even had a flag on his bike,” Williams said. “And he rode all around town just about every day up until about three years ago. Being a veteran was the most important thing to him. He told my niece that it bothered him that people didn’t make more of Veterans Day, didn’t honor vets more. He said young people didn’t realize the sacrifices veterans made for their country.”
Mr. McCreary had his lighthearted side as well, being well known as a prankster and a collector of the corny joke and silly one-liner.
“I would get a Christmas card in July from Grandpa,” said his granddaughter, Stephanie McCreary, “saying, ‘I wanted to be the first one to wish you a Merry Christmas.’”
Williams said her mother sometimes had enough of the jokes.
“My mom used to say, ‘Stop laughing! You’re encouraging him,’” she said. “But she would laugh, too.”
Family members and neighbors were well taken care of when Mr. McCreary was around.
“He loved gardening. He and my mom always had a garden, mostly stuff like tomatoes and cucumbers,” Williams said. “They would always supply all the neighbors.
“And he would take people to doctor appointments. A lot of his friends, they were not in good shape, but he was still driving at age 88. He always did what he could to help – and he was able to do that because he was so healthy.
“He kept an eye on the neighborhood. He cut grass for people, he would go to the store or look after their flowers or whatever they needed. He was always there for anybody when they needed him.”
Mr. McCreary enjoyed dancing, and was a regular at the Quad City Senior Center and at the American Legion, where he was an in-demand partner.
“And he loved baseball; loved the Cardinals,” his daughter said. “I remember he would take me and two or three of the neighborhood kids to the old Busch Stadium.
“He never bought the good seats; we always sat in the bleachers. But we would go early enough to get the front row.”
Williams said her father’s positive attitude and caring nature were shining examples for her and the rest of his family.
“I just never heard a bad word about my dad,” she said. “And I never heard him talk bad about anyone. Even as a kid, I remember he was always respectful of people and always had nice things to say about everyone. I would hope everybody could live their life like that and be remembered that way.”