In loving memory of
Ozell Sampson Jr
August 18, 2017
Ozell Sampson Jr., a longtime Gurnee resident and family man, is remembered for the ordinary, meaningful ways he mattered to those close to him — a stepfather, neighbor, and part of his community.
Remembering Ozell
A life held close in memory
Ozell Sampson Jr. was a 50‑year‑old resident of Gurnee, Illinois, whose life was rooted in family and neighborhood ties. Public records and contemporary news accounts identify him as a stepfather and local member of the Gurnee community. Though formal public tributes or a published obituary have not been found, contemporaneous reporting affirms that those who knew him would have known him first by his relationships at home and in the neighborhood he called home.
Descriptions in local reporting note Sampson’s role within his household and his presence in Gurnee; he is identified in official statements as a 50‑year‑old who lived in the 4200 block of Harper Avenue. That address and his years among neighbors suggest a life shaped by everyday connections — the routines, responsibilities, and small acts of care that make family life possible. He was publicly described as the stepfather of Tony Butler Jr., and that family relationship is how several local sources identified him when reporting on the tragedy that ended his life.
While there is little published about Sampson’s work, hobbies, or wider civic activities in the records available, the dignity of his life can be honored by acknowledging the human details confirmed by reliable sources: a middle‑aged man, present in his community, known to loved ones as a family member and household anchor. The absence of a formal obituary in online funeral‑home archives or major obituary aggregators does not diminish the fact that his life mattered to family, friends, and neighbors who shared his daily world.
Loss of a neighbor or family member leaves a quiet gap in the lives they touched. For those who knew Ozell Sampson Jr., memories of ordinary kindnesses, daily presence, and family roles are the lasting remembrances. Though public documentation about his life is limited, remembering him means allowing those small, human details to stand for the whole of a life lived among others — a life of relationships and belonging that survives in the people who carry his memory.
Shared moments