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Samuel E. “Sammy” Mackey was born in Bastrop County, Texas on July 7, 1934 to the late Green Mackey, Sr. and Veronia Fowler Mackey. He was the second of three siblings born to this union. Sammy accepted Christ as his savior and was baptized at an early age at Cottonwood Missionary Baptist Church under the pastorate of Rev. Salem A. Davis. He then united, along with the rest of the family, with Del Valle Missionary Baptist Church under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Henry Hill. Throughout his life, Sammy maintained a strong spiritual conviction based on his practice of service to others. Because of this philosophy, he vigorously embraced his role as a servant and never passed up an opportunity to extend a hand to anyone whom he felt could be the beneficiary of his help. Sammy received the early years of his formal education in the public schools of Bastrop and Travis Counties. When the family moved to Austin, he continued his education in the public schools of the Austin Independent School District. He graduated from The Old L.C. Anderson High School and immediately joined his uncles in their construction enterprises. He became a skilled craftsman, specializing in cement finishing, foundation setting, driveways, curbs and gutters and general carpentry. He took pride in driving around the Austin/Central Texas area and inspecting projects that he worked on years ago, eager to point out that “because of his special skills in tying rebar (reinforcement bars), his foundations and driveways haven’t cracked to this day”. Sammy served honorably in the US Army where he received an honorable discharge. While in service, he developed skills in vehicle maintenance and carried these skills over into civilian life. He took pride in being able to take a piece of farm equipment apart, repair it, then put it back into service in an unimaginably short period of time. Sammy wore many hats. He was an avid horseman/cowboy….a hobby that led to his mastering skills associated with calf roping and bulldogging. He regularly competed in the Travis County Sheriff’s Posse Rodeo where he “placed in the money” on numerous occasions. He was a free-spirited person, an outdoorsman, successful farmer, rancher, tractor mechanic, and an all-around fun-type individual who could find a friendly, often comical nickname for everybody that he got to know. Sammy was preceded in death by both parents and all but one sibling. He is survived by his daughters; Bertha M. Robinson, Jacqueline Mackey Smith (William), and Jessica Haws-Mackey, six grandchildren, DeJuan Mackey, Trevor Jibrie Smith, Janae A. Smith, Jaheim El-Amin, Jamar El-Amin, J’Niya El-Amin, and one brother, Dr. Audrey L. Mackey (“Tillie”) all of Austin, Texas, along with a number of nieces, nephews, cousins and collateral relatives and friends.

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Samuel E. "Sammy" Mackey

July 7, 1934 - July 16, 2016