Sam W. Berry, 92, of Newberry passed away on November 3, 2026 at Springfield Place.

Born on August 8, 1934, in the Queens Section of Newberry County, he was a son of the late Sam Berry, Sr. and Lily Johnson Berry. His dad was from Saluda, SC and his mother from Bluntstown, FL.

He was a fourth generation in the Masonry trade and the last of the Berry family to carry on the trade. He attended Long Lane School and Newberry High School and later graduated high school through the United States Armed Forces Institute while serving in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Berry served the country during the Korean War Era aboard a Navy Destroyer “U.S.S. Rowan D.D.782” from 1952 – 1955. He earned many ribbons, metals and six Battle Stars of which he was very proud.

After serving his military term, he worked for Otis Elevator Co. before he married. After marriage he came home and joined his father, uncles and cousins in the family masonry trade. After fifty years of building houses, churches, chimneys and all sorts of things in between, he always considered the height of career as going with the Methodist Church Missionary group to Costa Rica and building a relay building for storing religious material for the missionaries serving those surrounding area countries.

He came home from the military, met Alice M. Moore, of Leesville and was married in April of 1956 in Smyrna Presbyterian Church. Alice died in June 2007. Sam remarried an old childhood friend, Jacqueline Goldsmith Inman, widow of J.K. Inman, a retired highway patrolman. He was her caregiver for a number of years.

Mr. Berry grew up in a small Presbyterian church known as Queens Memorial which is still standing. His first wife was a Lutheran, so he attended with her at Faith Lutheran for many years until she passed away. He then returned to Queens and helped restore the place he really loved.

Mr. Berry will be laid beside his first wife, Alice, in the Springdale Section of Rosemont Cemetery in Newberry.

Mr. Berry was blessed with a good memory and loved history. He was also a genealogist, who traced his first wife's history back to Antrem County, Ireland. He also did the Berry family back to his great-great-grandfather in 1808. This is printed in the family book of Newberry County. The Moore history is on file at the Newberry County Public Library. Mr. Berry wrote a small pamphlet on Chimney Building which he sold on the internet up down the east coast. Sam loved his city, county, country and especially all of his friends through the years He supported St. Joseph Indian School in Chamberlain, SD which supported poor prairie Indians.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline G. Inman; a nephews, David Harmon and Fred E. Harmon; and nieces, Sharon Cooper and Edith Kinard.

He was predeceased by his first wife, Alice Moore Berry and sons, Kiester Wayne Berry, Russell Andrew Berry, and Charles Rodney Berry.

Graveside services will be conducted at 4:00 PM Friday, November 6, 2026 in Rosemont Cemetery. The family will receive friends following the service.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Joseph's Indian School, 1301 N. Main Street Chamberlain, SD 57325.