Samuel Papaneri Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Samuel (Sam) James Papaneri succumbed to his ongoing battle with heart disease and passed away peacefully Saturday morning, November 1st at his home outside Anna, Texas. Sam's longtime companion Elaine Wilkinson was with him as he passed. Sam was born and raised in New Jersey. His parents were Anthony and Katherine (Winters) Papaneri. He moved to the Dallas, Texas area in 1976 and went to work for the Water Department for the City of Farmers Branch. He settled into the country north of the Dallas area and over his nearly 40 years there came to love the country life on his acreage outside of Anna, Texas. He considered himself to be a true (and proud) Texan. He made a career with the Farmers Branch Water Department, retiring in 2002 with 26 years of service. He was well liked and had many long-term friends among his colleagues there. He and Elaine Wilkinson met in 1999, and she moved out to his acreage soon after. They had 15 wonderful years together, and were there to support each other through both the good times and illness. Their passion was their animals, who were all treated as members of the family. They had a succession of loved and spoiled dogs through the years, and in addition, they had a menagerie of animals on the acreage to entertain them - many different birds, squirrels and rabbits who made the acreage home and were often given names - and were always well fed! In addition to their animals, they loved their occasional trips to the casino in Oklahoma, and playing lottery scratch off games in between the trips. Sam is survived by his loving companion Elaine; sister Mary Bradley; brothers Edward, Frank, James and Anthony; and brother-in-law Gene Rost. He was preceded in death by his parents Anthony and Katherine Papaneri, sisters Marie Rost & Cass Devan and brother Charlie. A memorial remembrance & gathering will be held on Tuesday, November 11th at 11 AM at Distinctive Life Funeral Home, 1611 N. Central Expy., Plano, TX 75075. In lieu of flowers, it is requested that memorial donations be made to the North Texas SPCA at https://www.spca.org/memorialgiving (with notification card to Elaine Wilkinson at P.O. Box 312, Anna, TX 75409 if desired.)