Remembering Sam Douglass - Deacon 010

Sam was a founding member of the Club and was a Nine of Diamonds patch holder. He was a life-long friend of David Cook’s who often had drinks on Thursday nights with David’s crew at Luxury Cycles before riding to Stelter’s in Downtown Houston. He also attended all of Cook’s Ride to Fuad’s charity events.

At the meeting at which the Deacons received their patches, Ted Ricketson’s wife, the “Fly,” asked where the women’s patches were. I told her that the women weren’t getting patches. The Fly asked me “Why not?” Sam interjected “Because we are a motorcycle club, and motorcycle clubs don’t have women.”Sam and his son Preston, along with ex-Deacon Fred Farner, founded the Hill Country Ride in 1997 when a group that included David Cook and future Deacons Sam Allen, Ricky Cook and Fred Haas headed to the YO Ranch Hotel in Kerrville the weekend before Memorial Day. Unlike today’s Deacons, everyone trailered their bikes.Sam continued to participate in the Hill Country Ride, as well as other rides, as long as his health permitted. During one of his last Hill Country Rides, he asked about a group of Deacons who had been causing trouble within the Club and referred to them as “The sniveling seven.” It turned out that the snivelers were sitting across from Sam at the same table.Sam went to Sturgis with David Cook’s group for years and was one of the original Bullock Hotel crowd. He was in Deadwood when Cook said “There are so many of us here they should call us the Deacons of Deadwood,” which was the origin of our name. In most years, Sam, Preston, Fred and other guests would stop at Sam’s place in Aspen for some Colorado riding before getting to Sturgis.Sam was one of the Club’s early corporate sponsors. He and Preston would buy a VIP table at each of our Charity Balls even when they couldn’t attend.Sam won the motorcycle we raffled at our first Charity Ball. Since Sam and Preston had just bought Corpus Christi Harley-Davidson and our guests consisted almost entirely of people who knew David Cook, there was worry within the Club that folks might have though the raffle was rigged. Of course it wasn’t, but after that we adopted a policy prohibiting a Deacon from wining the raffle.There are many stories about Sam that could be related here. But Sam had a rule that “What happens with Sam, stays with Sam.” He never spoke out of school, so there will be no speaking out of school here. But there is no need to do that. All of us who knew Sam have our own fond remembrances.In 2011, Sam became the first Deacon to be honorably retired from the Club. We held a retirement ceremony at Capone’s Restaurant. There was virtually 100% attendance. Preston came in from Corpus Christi and other friends of Sam’s came in from other parts of the country. We presented Sam a sterling silver tray from Tiffany’s engraved with Sam’s name and initiation number, along with the Deacon’s patch.We lost Sam on Thanksgiving Day 2014. He was a much respected Deacon who had a greater influence on the formation and development of the Club than he likely would have acknowledged himself. Plus, he was just a hell of a good guy.