REDFIELD Linn Laurie Samelson, 76, of Redfield, passed away surrounded by his loving family at 7:35 a.m. on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at the Royal C. Johnson VA Medical Center in Sioux Falls.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, July 14, 2025, at Hyke Funeral Home in Redfield.
Linns funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 15, at Hyke Funeral Home with Pastor George Shaver officiating. His committal service, with military honors, will follow the service at Rockham Grace Cemetery in Rockham.
His funeral service will be live-streamed with a link on the funeral homes website below Linns obituary.
In lieu of flowers, the family gratefully requests memorials be directed to the Wounded Warrior Project (PO Box 758516, Topeka, Kan., 66675-8516) in memory of Linn.
Linn was born on October 20, 1948, in Bancroft, the second-oldest of five children of Virgil and Mary (Writner) Samelson. He attended elementary school in the Bancroft area, then his parents moved the family to Redfield, where Linn attended Plainview Academy (SDA).
Once it closed, Linn attended and graduated with his high school diploma from Maplewood Academy in Hutchinson, Minn., in 1967.
From there, Linn traveled to Detroit, Mich., to work at Ford Motor Company until he received his draft notice. Linn was inducted into the 25th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army Corp. on March 12, 1968, and served as a combat medic. His platoon troop was known as the Electric Strawberries, who secured their part in the stronghold on soldiers in North Vietnam at the height of the Tet Offensive. He went on to finish his Army service in El Paso, Texas, as an ambulance driver, until the 11th of March, 1974, when his obligation was complete. Linn was a proud veteran who loved his country.
After his honorable discharge, Linn traveled to Las Vegas, Nev., to hang drywall with his brother Gordy. In Vegas, Linn met and soon married, Charlotte Sandy Ann Sosebee, his wife of now 50 years.
Through the blessing of private adoption, they became parents to Traci Linn Samelson, born in 1981. Around 1984, they moved together to Tulare to be near family and to raise their daughter. Linn worked at Rude Transportation Co. for some years, until starting his own tractor-trailer business called Last Chance Trucking. Ultimately, his diabetes worsened and forced him into an early retirement.
From there, he enjoyed wheeling and dealing used vehicles and tires. He also enjoyed helping people get back on their feet and rarely turned anyone away who asked him for a favor. Linn loved pheasant hunting, going to church on Saturdays, taking joyrides in the country, visiting friends in person and online, looking at photographs, sharing a story or a great meal, watching sports, and he loved to laugh!
From the 2000s on, Linn struggled with complications from diabetes and several other chronic diseases that he battled over the years. He was determined to maintain his mobility and independence and got around the best he could with the health he had left, being thankful to his medical and family caregivers along the way.
Linn loved the Lord and was an avid believer in being a good, Christian person to others. He loved and cared about his family and friends with his whole heart. Linn was blessed to accumulate a chosen family of friends throughout the United States and the world through all his experiences in life. Linn kept in touch with friends from all across the country from his trucking days, his Army brothers, and from helping friends and neighbors.
Waiting at the gate to give Linn a tour of his new heavenly home are his parents, Virgil (2002) and Mary (2009) Samelson; brothers, Gordon Samelson (2018) and Lawrie Samelson (1995); sister, Pamela Samelson (1953); sister-in-law, Theresa Samelson (2018); grandparents, Clarence (1994) and Grace (1993) Samelson; and great-niece, Emerald Kennedi Beck (2013).
He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Charlotte Sandy Samelson; one daughter, Traci Linn Samelson; one grandson, Weston David Waldner; one brother, Virgene Gene Samelson and his children Cody Samelson and Corrina Jean (Matthew) Beck and their daughters McKenna, Kensi, and Maecie Beck; Gordons children: Jamie Samelson, Troy Samelson, and Michelle Profeta-Cook; cousin, Lana Bonitz; and many other like-family friends.
Hyke Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.
www.hykefuneralhome.com
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