SAMUEL J. EVANGELISTA, of Medford Lakes, NJ passed away peacefully on Tuesday, November 16th, 2021, at the age of 88.
He was born in Gibbstown, NJ to the late Vincent & Edith Evangelista and has resided in Medford Lakes, NJ since 1970. A retired teacher at Lenape High School in Medford, NJ, Sam was a graduate of Paulsboro High School in 1950 and later Gettysburg College. An outstanding high school and collegiate wrestler, Sam was the varsity wrestling coach for Paulsboro High School and Lenape High School where he coached from 1970 to 1983 achieving a life time record of 204-88-9. He was Coach of the Year in Burlington County and in Region 7 in 1982.
Sam was inducted into the South Jersey Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1986. He was inducted into the Paulsboro High School Hall of Fame in 1999 and inducted into the Lenape High School Hall of Fame in 2006.
In his words, “ The memories are as close as yesterday. It was over 30 years ago and a lot has happened to all of us, but the bonds we formed in that tiny gym are still as strong as the wrestling holds we practiced.
Coaching was one of the greatest pleasures I ever experienced. It was an opportunity to serve youth and help mold them for life after sports.”
Sam was also an avid golfer and a member of the Medford Lakes Country Club and a veteran of the US Army. He is the beloved husband of Judith (nee Hinton) Evangelista of Medford Lakes, NJ and the Loving Father of Alison Sierra who, with her husband Richard, lives in South Bend, IN; Beth Evangelista of Atco, NJ; and Carolyn Luna who, with her husband Monico, resides in San Antonio, TX. He is also survived by his 7 grandchildren Anna, Evelyn and Samuel Sierra, Leonardo and Surrena Luna and Sophia and Julian Mountain.
Relatives and friends are invited to his viewing on Monday, November 22, 2021, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM and on Tuesday from 10:00 - 11:00 am at the BRADLEY & STOW FUNERAL HOME, 127 Medford-Mt. Holly Road, Medford, NJ, where a funeral service will be held on Tuesday at 11:00 am. Friends and family are welcome to lunch, following the service, at 212 Mckendimen Road, Medford Lakes.
Interment will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 24th in the B.G. William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, NJ.
In lieu of other expressions of sympathy the family requests memorial donations to the Paulsboro H.S. Scholarship Fund - Wrestling, In Memory of Samuel Evangelista, 670 N. Delaware Street, Paulsboro, NJ 08066.
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