Mark Samuels

October 22, 1964 - February 11, 2012

Mark Samuels was born in Berkeley, California to Joe Samuels (preceded him in death) and Alberta Samuels. Mark leaves his wife Sherita Samuels of Patterson, California, his children Marionna Samuels and Mark Samuels of San Leandro; Marcus Samuels of Oakland , Samarra Samuels, A’mare Samuels and a step daughter Jzela Roberts of Patterson, California. His siblings; a brother Leon Samuels (preceded him in death), Jerry Samuels of Oakland; his sisters Gail Samuels of Oakland, and Suzan Samuels- Stewart( Terry Stewart) of Hercules California, his nieces Kimally Samuels of Pittsburgh, California; Jalila Nelson(Issa Nelson) of Oakland, California. His Nephews Yonn Samuels (Ana Samuels) of Lehi,Utah, and Joseph Muhammed (Debbie Muhammed) of Fairburn, Georgia; a host of great-nieces, great-nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends. Mark Samuels was sincerely a good guy. He attended grade school and high school in Berkeley, where he made his mark so to speak as B. A. M; this is where it all began for (BAM). He was a very well known and liked guy; he was fortunate in his lifetime to have made a difference in many lives. He had a unique personality; which you had to know him to understand him. He was a fun loving and true to the heart person. He was a true friend, one that just could not be duplicated. Mark a.k.a. BAM developed loving relationships with his friends in Berkeley where he was informally adopted by the Williams family; he was preceded in death by both Inez Williams (Poochie) who was like a mother to him and Shadondee Williams who was like his daughter. Mark had a brotherhood of friends who he enjoyed being around; he made an impact on their lives as well as they did on his. He loved his children with all his heart and he was an astounding father; not to just his own children but other children in the community. He was always concerned about others and their well being. He never would leave a child or anyone for that matter without. He always felt NO CHILD should be without a father; with that he assured any child would have as long as he had. If anyone needed anything and he could provide it; he would. He loved spending time with his children and his host of friends who became known as his Berkeley family. He had a love and passion for sports, motorcycles and cars. Early in Mark’s life he was fortunate to have raised his older set of children and establish a beautiful relationship with them; which anyone who knew him knew how he felt about his kids. He was able to raise them along with his first wife Linda and her two children (Andrea and Doug Gilmore); who too considered him as a loving and nurturing father. Mark lived in Patterson, California, with his wife Sherita, where they commenced to establish and build a stable foundation for their family. To their union his last two children now 3 and 5 were born. They unfortunately never had the opportunity to build a lasting relationship with their father but they will know how much he loved them. He was a loving husband, father (pa-pa), son, brother, uncle and friend. His celebration of life cannot go without saying, we can’t say enough about this wonderful man. He truly will be missed; he was greatly loved by many. His untimely death we know was far too soon; he had so much more he wanted to do. He made tremendous changes in his life that could not go unnoticed. He loved his wife, his family and his friends in a way that we should all cherish yet all are going to miss. We want to remember all the good things this man contributed to so many lives and allow his memory to stand exemplary to his life changes. Enough can’t be said about this man who we all are truly sad to see leave our lives this soon. We know that Mark would want us to look at what he did do, not what he didn’t do. So let us not have any regrets for what we weren’t able to do while he was here; let’s continue to do what we know he would want us to do. Mark was searching and learning about Christ in his last days and we should take that as notice to a man who wanted and was ready to accept change. He was truly one of a kind, he will truly be missed. He’s gone asleep in death and he will never be forgotten, he has left an engraving in all of our hearts and memory. Mark, Fast Black, Black, Bam Bam, Bam whatever name you knew him by; you can honestly say he was truly one of the best men you could have ever known.