Celebrating 100 Years of Sam Lankford: A Life in Photos

Samuel Terrell Lankford—my Daddy—liked to say he’d live to be 110, because he still had plenty of people left to piss off. He didn’t make it quite that far, but he filled 93 years with grit, humor, and a whole lot of life. Born in 1926 and gone in 2019, he would have turned 100 today, March 26, 2026. To honor his centennial, I’m sharing a walk through his life in photos, decade by decade—a hundred years of stories in the face of one man. Happy 100th birthday in Heaven, Daddy—we’re celebrating you today!

1940s

Daddy with his sister Alice on the right

Boot camp, U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois, 1944

Daddy is on the right end in the left photo

Daddy (center) worked for his uncle Jerry Gregory at
Gregory Plumbing and was trained by the man on the right

Mama (Fay), my sister Bonita, and Daddy

Daddy and Bonita 

1950s

Daddy and Mama with my sisters Bonita and Jennifer

Daddy with Bonita and Jennifer

Bonita, Jennifer, and Daddy holding me 

Mama and Daddy on the right

Celebrating my 2nd great grandmother Martha (Ogle) Shields on her
88th birthday—front center—with Bonita, Mama holding me,
Daddy holding Michael, and Jennifer gathered around her

Daddy and Daisy (Shields) Vest (my granny)

Daddy and Michael

Daddy with his siblings and parents at the old Lankford home place in
Penfield: Liz, Lucile, Grandma (Floria), Grandpa (Carroll Sr.),
Alice, and Betty, Sport (Carroll Jr.), Grover, Clark, and Daddy

1960s

My uncle Grover; Uncle Clark holding me on the left and Michael on
the right; my Grandma Lankford; Bonita; Daddy; and Jennifer

Daddy with his children: me, Jennifer, Michael, Vanessa, and Bonita

Jennifer, Vanessa, Michael, Daddy, me, and Bonita at the Lankford
home place in Penfield

Me, Jennifer, Daddy, and Michael at Grant Park in Atlanta

Daddy, Vanessa, Michael, and Jennifer

Me and Daddy, taken at our Macon Drive house in Atlanta

Taken at our Macon Drive house in Atlanta

1970s

Uncle Ralph Epps, Daddy, Michael, Uncle Clark, and Grandpa Lankford
at Bairdstown Cemetery after Grandma’s burial

My cousin Tim Griffith, Uncle Lawrence Griffith, and Daddy

Daddy with grandsons Brian and Jonathan Streetman at our
Macon Drive house

1980s

Lankford siblings: Liz, Betty, Alice, Lucile, Sport, Clark, Grover, and Daddy

Wife Louise (my stepmother), grandson Chris Murphy, and Daddy in
front of the White House, Washington, DC

1990s

Celebrating the birthday of Willie B., Zoo Atlanta’s silverback
gorilla for 39 years. The zoo built a giant ice‑cream sundae on rows
of conference tables, and we watched them fill it with ice cream
and toppings before everyone got to enjoy it.

Daddy with our dog Barney. After our dog Murph
died, my young son asked if he could “die for a
 little while” so he could go see his dog again. When
I told Daddy the story, he brought Barney
to us—and Barney always remembered him
when he visited.

Grandson Kevin Murphy, Uncle Clark, grandson Chris Murphy, and Daddy

Daddy and grandson Kevin Murphy on the left, and Daddy holding
the Scarlett O’Hara figurine he received for his birthday on the right—he
loved Gone With the Wind.

Daddy in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics

2000s

A happy day for Daddy at lunch with his family at Anne & Bill’s in Forest Park

Aunt Lucile, Uncle Sport, and Daddy

With grandsons Chris Lankford on the left and Chris Murphy
on the right (the photo with Chris Murphy was taken at
Daddy’s 80th birthday party)

Daddy, me, Bonita, Jennifer, Vanessa, and Michael

 2010s

Daddy and granddaughter Nikki Lankford

Me, Daddy, Bonita, and Jennifer after lunch at the Atlanta State
Farmers Market Restaurant

Daddy at a rehabilitation center after he broke his elbow

Daddy, granddaughter Emily, and Jennifer celebrating Christmas

Daddy and grandson Chris Murphy on the left; Daddy on the
right—both at Autum Village Assisted Living

Daddy and Jennifer on the left; Daddy and Vanessa on the
right—both at Christian City Nursing Home

Celebrating his 90th birthday at Christian City Nursing Home
(I remember he didn’t want to be there that day)

Me, Daddy, Jennifer, Michael, and Vanessa

Daddy celebrating his 93rd birthday
at Christian City Nursing Home

Today, Daddy rests at Bairdstown Cemetery, surrounded by his parents, his brothers and sisters—Lucile, Sport, Alice, and Clark—along with the wider circle of Lankford family who share that patch of earth, including a niece, a nephew, and several in‑laws. For years, he donated money to help with the cemetery’s upkeep, a tradition I now continue each year in honor of his birthday. One hundred years later, the best of him lives in the people who loved him.