Samuel Paul Leonelli

Samuel Paul Leonelli, our family patriarch and Italian paisan to the rest, died Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, of complications to Alzheimer’s disease at the Central Utah Veterans Home in Payson, Utah. He was 77. He was born July 7, 1938, in Tooele, Utah, to Charlie and Rose Leonelli. He married Dorothy Hooft of Winnemucca, Nevada, on Dec. 11, 1965. He graduated from Tooele High School in 1956. He attended the University of Utah, then joined the U.S. Army.  He retired after 38 years working as an engineer tech at the Tooele Army Depot. It was his indomitable passion for service that most defines him. He spent years providing care for his aging parents, serving elderly in his childhood neighborhood, serving for his parish, and in youth sports programs. He is preceded in death by his parents and his brother Frank. Survivors include five children: Craig, Lisa, David (Nathalie), Nicholas (Angie) and Shanz (Alexis); 13 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; brother James (Marilyn) and sister Rosemary (Harold) Pitt. Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 15, at 11 a.m., preceded by a viewing at 10 a.m. at St. Marguerite’s Catholic Church, 700 E. Vine Street. Visitation and rosary at the church Thursday from 6-8 p.m. Interment at Tooele City Cemetery.