Samuel M. McCully DVM

Samuel (Sam) Murray McCully of Lacon died Saturday, February 4, 2023, at Snyder Village Health Center in Metamora, just 2 weeks shy of his 102^nd birthday. Sam was predeceased by his wife Lois Mae (Martin) McCully of Lacon in 2010, his parents Glen Dell and Ruth Anna (Hampton) McCully of LaRose, his brother Clyde McCully of Toluca, his sister Betty Jo Spangler of LaRose and his son-in-law Se June Hong of Buzzards Bay, MA.

Sam is survived by his 4 children: Karen Fay Hong of Buzzards Bay, MA, Samuel Martin McCully of Algonquin, Alan Murray McCully (Cathy) of Lacon, Susan Diane (Tim) Rychel of Irvine, CA; by his 8 grandchildren: Kessely Corea (Ted) Hong, Samuel Lambourn (Alisa) McCully, Lucas Clyde (Cheryl) McCully, MacKenzie Lynn (James) Pryor, Meghann Joan Benson, Charles Samuel (Lisa) McCully, Katherine Ann (Austin) Hurwitz and Madeline (Brian) Giblin; and by his 17 great-grandchildren: Braun, Maren, Salome and Boaz Benson; Gabriel, Caleb and Joshua Hong; Finnley and Siena McCully; Maeve and Cormac McCully; Dietrich and Camille Pryor; Kyle and Samuel McCully; Grayson Hurwitz ;and Eleanor Lois Giblin. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews, including his god-daughter Patty Lynn Fredericks of Streator.

Sam was born February 17, 1921, in the back seat of a Model T Ford, stuck in a snowdrift on a country road in Marshall County, Belle Plain Township. He was educated in one-room schools and graduated from Toluca High School mid-year 1938-39. He and Clyde milked a herd of 20 Guernsey cows every morning and night.

In the winter of 1939 Sam spent 4 months driving Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Ongs, a Toluca farm couple, to Florida, all the way to Key West (over the multiple wood bridges that replaced the railroad destroyed by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935) where he developed his life-long love of Key Lime Pie. 

Sam studied 2 years (1939-41) at Blackburn College in Carlinville where, on the first day, he met Lois Mae Martin of Webster Groves, Missouri. During their second year, Sam served as Work Manager. Then he matriculated to the University of Illinois where he was declared graduated (with a double major in Agricultural Chemistry and Agronomy) in March 1943 to enter the Army Air Corps at East St. Louis Airbase. During World War II he was stationed at Kessler Field Airbase in Biloxi, Mississippi as a Private First Class serving as a meat inspector. He supplemented his $19 per month military pay by playing bridge with the sergeants. 

Sam and Lois married on February 19, 1944, in the Christian Church in Webster Groves. They began their married life in Manhattan, Kansas, while Sam completed his veterinary medicine studies at Kansas State University. Sam then joined a practice for one year in Salt Lake City, Utah, for $200 per month where he developed a technique to operate on dogs with glaucoma. 

Sam, Lois and their 2 children then moved by car in the winter of 1947 to Marshall County. Sam practiced veterinary medicine in Lacon in a solo mixed (large and small animal) practice from April 1947 to 1979 when he was joined by his son Alan Murray McCully DVM, and later by his grandson Charles Samuel McCully DVM who currently owns the Marshall County Veterinary Clinic.

During his working years in Lacon, Sam contributed to the local community by serving on the Mid-County Board of Education, helping with his sons' Boy Scout troop, and participating in the establishment of the Marshall County Historical Society and Museum. Sam took up wood carving and travel as he gradually retired. His many descendants are proud owners of his carved (mostly water) birds. He golfed through age 96 at the Lacon Country Club. Sam was a voracious reader and enjoyed playing euchre, bridge, poker and kings in the corner card games. Mountain oysters were the usual fare when Sam hosted his poker club! Sam retained his mental acuity until the end of his long and productive life.

Cremation rites have been accorded. Sam's ashes, combined with those of Lois, will be buried in the Crow Meadow Cemetery in Belle Plain Township where the remains of his great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, sister and son-in-law are interred. A visitation will be held on Thursday, June 29, 2023 from 5-7pm at Lenz Memorial Home in Lacon. Funeral services will be held on Friday, June 30, 2023 at 10am, also at Lenz. Memorial contributions may be made in Sam's memory to the Lacon Sparland Ambulance, Lacon-Sparland Fire Protection District, or to the Marshall County Historical Society in Lacon. Online condolences can be left at lenzmemorialhome.com.