Sam Nageley ~ Class of 1955





SAM ROTH NAGELEY
1937 - 2003

Sam Roth Nageley, the founding partner of the law firm Nageley, Meredith & Miller, Inc., died February 27, 2003, after a battle with cancer. Mr. Nageley was born in Birmingham, AL, migrated with his family to Richland, WA when he was 5 years old. Despite his early departure from Alabama, Sam earned renown there when he was recognized by Governor George Wallace in 1975 with a position as an Honorary Aide de Camp in the Georgia Militia.

Sam won a football scholarship to and graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Political Science in 1959. He worked his way through college and law school at Willamette University Law School in Salem, OR, performing services as a shoe salesman, a welder helper, a miner, a boat driver, a law clerk, a private investigator, and a turkey truck driver He was admitted to the California Bar in 1963. From 1963 to 1966 Sam was a Judge Advocate while serving as a member of the United States Air Force from which he retired as a Captain.

In 1966 Sam came to Sacramento where he began the private practice of law. Sam was committed to the education and training of young lawyers to whom he extolled the value of creativity in the practice of law. True to his own principles, in 1999 Sam was one of the first lawyers in California to use Sanctions, a computerized trial presentation program in a jury trial.

Sam pursued his love of golf, which he developed later in life, and he joined the Northridge Country Club in 1987 where he could often be heard extolling the benefits of The Natural Golf Method of play. He will be remembered fondly as a man of great rectitude who elevated loyalty and respect for others to the level of prime values.

Sam is survived by his wife, Rhoda Nageley; daughters, Janet Meredith and Julie Keowen; sons-in-law, Greg Meredith and Jim Keowen; grandson, Nathan Roth Keowen; granddaughters, Samantha Meredith and Alexandra Meredith; his friend and ex-wife, Nancy Nageley; brother, John Nageley of Richland, WA; sister, Evelyn Zimmerman of Seattle, WA; aunt, Elsie Bailey of Gadsden, AL.

A Memorial Service will be held at East Lawn Chapel at 5757 Greenback Lane on Thursday, March 6, at 10:00am.

Published in the Sacramento Bee from 3/3/2003 - 3/4/2003.