Samuel Salvador Rey

Former Elmer City, Washington, resident Samuel Salvador Rey, 91, passed away peacefully Sunday, May 28, 2017, at his home in Boise, Idaho.

Sam was born on December 10, 1926, in Wyoming to Serafin and Belinda (Belle) Cruz Rey.

In 1945, he married Gladys Leone Parry in California. From this union, they were blessed with six children: Terry (Connie), Dale (Becky), Trudy, Michael (Janet), Greg (Judith) and Doug (Jane).

In 1990, he married Margaret Schmidt in Kelowna, British Columbia. They made their home in Elmer City, before moving to Boise in 2010.

Sam is survived by his six children, 24 grandchildren and 35 great-grandchildren; his sister, Sherry of Eden, Idaho; and numerous nieces and nephews. He is also survived by four stepsons: Terry Hynes, Rick Hynes, Dale Hynes, Gordon Hynes and their families.

Sam worked 35 years in federal services, retiring on December 11, 1981. He began his federal service on the Boysen Dam in Wyoming in 1946 as a personnel clerk. In 1961, he became the administrative officer for Yellowtail Dam near Hardin, Montana, his first experience on a big dam. In 1967, he came to the Grand Coulee Dam Project as the first employee on the construction of the Third Powerhouse. In June 1976, when the Teton Dam in Idaho collapsed, Sam was detailed to form the organization needed in the dire emergency. Upon his retirement, Sam said of his federal service, "I'm just a guy who's worked his way up. I've not had a distinguished career. But I feel very satisfied."

In his earlier years, Sam was an avid hunter, fisherman and bowler, but later in life he gave up these activities and settled in his workshop, where he became an expert woodworker, building furniture for his family and friends.

Sam was predeceased by his first wife, Leone, in 1985; his second wife, Margaret, in 2015; as well as his parents, Rey and Belle, his brothers Finnie (Frank) and Joseph, and sister Rose.

Services will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 3, 2017, at the LDS Church in Coulee Dam, Washington. Burial will take place at Spring Canyon Cemetery. Arrangements were made through Zeyer Funeral Chapel in Nampa, Idaho, and Strate Funeral Home in Grand Coulee, Washington.

The family asks, that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the American Cancer Society.