December 29, 1945 – March 24, 2022

On March 24, 2022, Samuel Elliott III passed. He is preceded in death by his wife, Donna Elliott; his son, Sam Elliott IV, and his parents, Sam Jr. and Mary Elliott. Sam is survived by his sister, Karen Elliott; brothers Michael Elliott and Trish Maki (fiance) and Steven Elliott; 4 of his 5 children; Thomas Elliott, Mark Elliott, Julie Kirschling and Jen Quevedo; daughter-in-law, Ruth Elliott; 15 grandkids; Aimee & Skyler (in-law) Ready, Sadie, Natalie, Forrest, Monica, Jada, Ramona, Rachel, Sammy, Lydia, Sophia, India, Bella, Max, and Donna; 4 great-grandkids; Malakai, Boston, Isaiah, and McKenzie; and 2 nieces, Vivien and Hannah.

His wife and children, their children and their children’s children were the greatest joy of his life. He dedicated his life to helping others find sobriety. Sam Elliott was a rock for many, in both his family and in his recovery community. Sam always had an exuberance for life and a monumental capacity for laughter in all situations.

At the age of 18, Sam served in active duty in the Navy. After serving two tours in Vietnam, Sam met and married the love of his life, Donna. He worked as an over the road truck driver in order to support his growing family and driving became a passion of his. Amongst his other accomplishments, Sam was known to have driven over a million miles.

Both Sam and Donna had adventurous spirits and chose to leave their home in Dayton, Ohio and move their family to Colorado based on a coin toss on a map. After a short period, they settled in Glenwood Springs in April 1982.

Besides family, Sam’s life centered around substance abuse counseling. His personal experiences with overcoming his own addiction and staying in recovery for 43 years is what drove his love of counseling.

He was always patient and gracious with his time without hesitation. If anyone needed additional support in their sobriety, he would sit with them for as long as they needed. He never failed to communicate exactly what he felt, nothing was ever left unsaid.

Sam continuously demonstrated unconditional love in supporting his kids, grandchildren and great grandchildren to always follow their passion. His legacy of caring for others will live on in those he loved and cared for, and memories of him will not be forgotten. He will be greatly missed.

There will be a public celebration of Sam’s extraordinary life on April 2nd at 1:30 pm at Two rivers school