Samuel Walter Dorsey "Sammy" Stancel, age 92, of Buford, passed away on Wednesday, June 8, 2011. Funeral service will be held on Sunday, June 12, 2011, at 2PM at Hamilton Mill Memorial Chapel. Rev. Dee Dillin and Fr. Tim Watts will officiate. Interment will follow at Duncan Creek Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Saturday from 10am – 12pm and 2 – 8pm. Sammy was predeceased by his wife of 46 years, Omie Lee Puckett Stancel, his parents, and all of his brothers and sisters: Lennie (Lester) Maddox, Inzie (Herman) Gower, Vasco (Ora) Stancel, Inus Stancel, Bonnie (Byron) Cleghorn, J.T. (Annie Belle) Stancel, Glady Stancel, Sarah (Jim) Boggs, Herman "Fat" (Louise) Stancel and Cline Stancel, and brother in-law, Ernest F. Puckett. He is survived by his sons, Dorsey and Jean Stancel and Wayne and Clara Stancel; six grandchildren: Alida (Tom) Knuth, Emily (Brendon) Love, Andy (Jennifer) Stancel, Eli (Stephanie) Stancel, Elly Stancel and Bonnie (Travis) Duncan; six great-grandchildren: Kyle, Brian, Kevin and Claire Knuth, Madison Hinckley and Morgan Love. He is alsosurvived by two sisters-in-law, Mrs. Grace Puckett and Mrs. Lucy Stancel, and a special friend, Mrs. Carrie Tuggle. Sammy was born on March 8, 1919, to Walter and Norah Hayes Stancel. He was the ninth of eleven children. He was a descendent of pioneer Gwinnett families as well as Revolutionary and Confederate veterans and was, by his life, an example of an American patriot. He grew up in the Duncan Creek area of Gwinnett County and attended Duncan Creek School. He was a 1940 graduate of Dacula High School where he was a member of the basketball team that won the state championship in 1938. As a veteran of World War II, he was a member of the Greatest Generation having served in the army medical corps across France and in the Battle of the Bulge. After the War, he and his wife moved to Buford where they spent the remainder of their lives. He worked until retirement in the Buford Post Office and was an associate for many years of Tapp Funeral Home. He was a member of the American Legion Post 127, Buford Masonic Lodge and a founding member of the Buford Lions Club. He served his community and the people in a wider area as a member of the Buford Volunteer Fire Department, Board of Education of the Buford City Schools System, the Gwinnett County Draft Board, and for thirty five years as a board member and often chairman of the Gwinnett County Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS). He was past-president of the Buford PTA and the Band Boosters Association and was an active participant in the athletic associations and on the Board of Appeals of Buford. He was a life-long member of Duncan Creek Congregational Church where he sang in the choir, taught Sunday School, and was a church clerk. He was involved for many years with convention singing. Sammy's last years were spent enjoying his family, upon whom he doted, and his friends who were always ready for him to host a game of cards. He died as a friend to all who knew him, a patriarch to his family who loved him, and a man who will be dearly missed.