Robert Joseph Samsel

Robert Joseph Samsel, 68, passed away on April 6, 2018. Surprisingly, he passed, not due to an encounter with a bear or moose in Alaska, which would have been his style, but in St. Peter's Hospital.

His daughter, Tammy Samsel (Marie Nakamura); his sisters, Carol Williams, Kathleen (Louis) Rivituso, Barbara (Donald) Smallwood, Patricia (Rusty) Fox, Alice (Joseph) DiStefano, his girlfriend, Tina Lewis, and his nieces and nephews thought he may be invincible: earning RCS cross-country records; enlisting, proudly serving his country, and earning a purple heart in the United States Marine Corp; protecting his community as an officer of the Bethlehem Police Department; crisscrossing the United States by motorcycle; deep-sea fishing; foraging rivers for gold; traversing the backwoods hunting; and perhaps his most dangerous undertaking, coaching teenage girls.

He was the devoted son (Mama's boy) of the late Alice and Robert Samsel, literally driving them to appointments and movies in their later years, and figuratively driving them crazy with his "smart mouth" and antics.

He loved his family fiercely and will be greatly missed.

Calling hours will be held May 5th, 2018 at New Comer Cremations & Funerals, 343 New Karner Rd., Colonie, from 1:00 pm to 2:30 p.m. A memorial service will immediately follow the calling hours at 2:30 pm at the funeral home. Entombment will be private, on May 7th, 2018 at the Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to, Friends of Five Rivers, 56 Game Farm Road, Delmar, NY 12054 or the Disabled American Veterans, P.O. Box 14301 Cincinnati, OH 45250 in Robert's memory.