Obituary of Samuel Caleb Conner

Samuel Caleb Conner, Born October 25, 1995 in Monterey, CA passed away October 24, 2016 in Herndon, VA. He was the beloved son of COL (USA Ret) Christopher E. Conner and Polly M. (Lieb) Conner, Herndon, VA. Survived by his twin sister, Madison “Maddie” Conner and younger brother Joseph “Joe” Conner. He is survived by his Grandparents, Thomas R. and Renee Conner, Kilgore, TX., Yvonne D. Lieb (formerly of Ebensburg, PA), Jamestown, RI, and countless Uncles, Aunts and Cousins throughout the country. Sam was born into a military family and moved 11 times during his 21 years. He excelled in most sports, trying football, baseball, basketball and soccer before finding his true passion, Rugby. He was a member of the NOVA HS Rugby team. He graduated from Oakton HS in 2014 and attended West Virginia University where he was a member of the WVU Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Following his passion for public service, Sam left WVU in 2016 to enroll in the EMT program at Northern Virginia Community College. Sam had an infectious personality, and was widely known for his sense of humor, compassion, loyalty, and generous heart. His, was a light that burned bright in the lives of his family, friends, loved ones, and he will live on through the legion of lives he positively impacted. He is preceded in death by his Fraternal Grandmother, Virginia L Conner (Kilgore, TX), and Louis J Lieb (Ebensburg, PA) So many of you have asked if we had any organization that you could donate to in honor of Sam. We wanted to think of ones that impacted him positively and that he loved. He loved playing Rugby- just like his dad, which scared me to death. He loved his teammates and coaches. When I talked to his coach about sending donations in his honor he said " never met a nicer more coachable kid. Even when he was down on himself he never gave up". A donation in his memory can be sent to NOVA HIgh School Rugby, 4208 16th Street South, Arlington, VA 22204 or donate directly through PayPal at novahsrugbycoach@gmail.com. The second is The National Military Family Association or (NMFA) Operation Purple Camp, 3601 Eisenhower Ave., Suite 425, Alexandria, VA 22304 Or directly on their website: www.militaryfamily.org This wonderful organization is an association that advocates for Military Families and provides Operation Purple Camp, summer camp opportunities throughout the country for military kids while their parents are deployed. Sam, Maddie and Joe were lucky enough to go to one and it was an amazing distraction while their dad was deployed in Iraq when they were young. The director of the Ft. Campbell camp at the time told me yesterday that she still has the picture of the kids with their thank you notes. Sam wrote" it was the best week I didn't think I was gonna have!"