The Arcadia Round Barn in Arcadia, Oklahoma, announced a few days ago that Samuel D. “Mr. Sam” Gillaspy, a longtime ambassador for the Route 66 landmark, has died. He was 99.
The ever-affable Gillaspy started giving tours at the Round Barn in 1992, not long after the structure was repaired. He didn’t step away from those duties until 2020, when he was in his early 90s.
For more than twenty years he brought the barn’s history to life with his big smile, boundless energy, cowboy hat and boots, and his gift for making every visitor feel welcome. Every Monday morning was Mr. Sam’s volunteer day, and as a dedicated docent and President Emeritus of the Arcadia Historical & Preservation Society, he shared the stories of the barn, the community, and Route 66 with visitors from around the world.
A natural storyteller and passionate volunteer, Mr. Sam became one of the Round Barn’s most beloved ambassadors. He gave interviews to television stations and newspapers, danced the Texas Two-Step and waltz with visitors upstairs on the famous wooden dance floor, and always had another story—or colorful yarn—to share. His love of bringing people together also extended to his Rock of Ages Farm near Luther, three miles east of Arcadia, where for nearly forty years he welcomed thousands of visitors for tours, fellowship, hayrides, and unforgettable adventures.
Here’s a video of Gillaspy from 10 years ago:
Not many people knew that Gillaspy was a Marine during World War II. Senior News & Living OK had some details about his military career:
“I was 17 and the United States needed men awful hard. So, I entered the Marines (enlisted on February 28, 1945, with a delayed report date) and I still had about three months of (high) school left,” Mr. Sam said. His parents gave permission to enlist. Why the Marine Corps? According to Jeannie Vollmer, his partner, he felt that the Marines were the toughest Service.
Was he strong enough to join? Mr. Sam laughed and said, “Oh yeah. Back then, yeah, I was.”
Gillaspy was put in charge of a general’s car at Camp Pendleton in San Diego.
Mr. Sam saw men coming back from being stationed in the Pacific theater of operations. “I was able to talk with them. This one man, I don’t know why, it’s been so long, he gave me his rifle that he came from the war…” because the man had used it shooting Japanese. “And he said, ‘…he couldn’t take it anymore’…And he gave it (rifle) to me. And I was able to put it in my barracks.”
He was discharged as a Private First Class in August 1946, having served about 14 months. He hitchhiked back to Oklahoma and worked Dolese, a cement manufacturer, for 40 years. In the early 1960s, he bought a 160-acre farm near Luther.
He was buried in Luther Cemetery.
(Image of Mr. Sam Gillaspy via the Arcadia Round Barn)