Sams, Hayden
SAMS (SANFORD), Hayden
October 5, 1917—February 10, 2022
Hayden Sanford Sams passed away on February 10, 2022 at her home in Decatur, Georgia. A private graveside service was held on Monday, February 14. She was born on October 5, 1917 in Mocksville, North Carolina, the youngest child and only daughter of Adelaide Gaither Sanford and Rufus Brown Sanford. Her three brothers, Lash Gaither, Rufus Brown, and Marshall Clement were lifelong friends and predeceased her.
She graduated from Agnes Scott College in 1939, and completed a year of graduate study at the University of North Carolina. On June 18, 1941 she married Hansford Sams, Jr. of Decatur, Georgia. Mr. Sams died in 2005. Over the years her volunteer activities and friendships encompassed the Junior League, Decatur Presbyterian Church, the Agnes Scott Alumnae Association and membership in the over-60-year-old Decatur Book Lovers' Club. Above all, Hayden cared about her family and her friends. She is survived by her 4 children: Hansford Sams III of Nashville and his wife Linda Hendrickson, Adelaide Sams Probst of Good Hope, Georgia and her husband Cliff Probst, Elizabeth Sams of Atlantic Beach, Florida and her husband Jonathan Jacobs, and Louise Sams of Atlanta and her husband Jerome Grilhot. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts to Decatur Presbyterian Church, 205 Sycamore Street, Decatur, Georgia 30030; to Agnes Scott College, 141 East College Avenue, Decatur, Georgia 30030, or to a charity of your choice.
