Biography: Sam C. Sowell, an outstanding leader in the business, philanthropic, and community affairs of Arkansas life for four decades, died Monday, December 17, 2007. He was 74. Sam was born and grew up in the Smyrna community of White County on May 1, 1933. His parents were John Grammar Sowell and Leah Dobbins Sowell. He graduated from Searcy High School and attended Arkansas State University before serving in the U. S. Army during the Korean conflict. In May 1955, he married the former Martha Norman. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville with a Bachelor of Science degree in business and then did graduate work at Washington University in St. Louis. In 1965 he came to Little Rock as personnel manager of International Graphics Company and in 1967 was made president of the printing company. In January 1975, the late Raymond Rebsamen made Sam president of Rebsamen Companies, Inc., a holding company that included Rebsamen Insurance, Rebsamen Ford, Providential Life Insurance Co., Eagle Realty, and Favorite Check Printers, as well as International Graphics. In 1995, Mr. and Mrs. Sowell became owners of Harvey Press in New Orleans as well as International Graphics, selling International Graphics in 1997 and Harvey Press in 2000. In his illustrious business career, he served as national chairman of the 13,000 member Printing Industries of America. He was honored as “Man of the Year” by the Printing Industry Association of the South and as a “Boss of the Year” by the Southwest Little Rock Jaycees. He was chairman of the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Foundation Board in 1982, and in 1988-1990 was chairman of the University of Arkansas Foundation, having first served as chairman of the investment and audit committee. A former president of Fifty for the Future, he was also Vice chairman and director of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the board of directors of First Commercial Bank until its merger with Regions Bank. Among his other leadership roles were: chairman of the Winrock International President’s Arkansas Advisory Council, founding member and chapter chairman of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), president of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, chairman for the United Way of Pulaski County, president of the Downtown Kiwanis Club, chairman of the YMCA board, secretary-treasurer and director of the Personnel Association of Arkansas, member of the administrative board and chairman of the finance committee of First United Methodist Church and as a board member of: Arkansas Community Foundation, Independent College Fund of Arkansas, the Downtown Partnership, Associated Industries of Arkansas, American Red Cross, Sales and Marketing Executives Association, the Ottenheimer Brothers Foundation, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging at UAMS, and American Cancer Society. He also served as a YPO Task Force Consultant for the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., as an advisory member to the board of the Junior League of Little Rock, as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the College of Business Administration, University of Arkansas, and as a member of the Goals for Central Arkansas Congress. He was a member of the World Business Council and of the Arkansas Symphony Foundation. In 1994, he was the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He was a 33rd degree Mason and was elected Knight Commander of the Court of Honour of the Arkansas Consistory. In retirement, Sam found great interest in Genealogy, leading him to find that he had seven ancestors in the Revolutionary War and two ancestors at Jamestown, VA. He was a member of Sons of the American Revolution and was invited to become a member of the Jamestown Society. Sam also enjoyed gardening. Survivors are his wife, Martha, to whom he had been married 52 years; three sons: John Norman Sowell and his wife Cheryl of Louisville, KY; Steven Craig Sowell and his wife Christine of Mt. Clemens, MI; and Dr. Michael Keith Sowell and his wife Lindsay of Louisville, KY; one sister, Julianne S. Lipe and husband Gordon of Dekalb, TX; and 10 grandchildren: Joshua, Megan, Blake, Thomas, Rachel, Alexandra, Rebecca, Samuel, Benjamin and Joseph Sowell. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, December 20, at 11:00 a.m. at First United Methodist Church with Dr. Michael Mattox and Rev. Ed Matthews officiating. Funeral arrangements are by Ruebel Funeral Home, www.ruebelfuneralhome.com. Visitation will be at Ruebel on Wednesday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, 723 South Center Street, Little Rock, AR 72201; the UAMS Foundation, 4301 West Markham, Little Rock, AR 72205; or the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, P.O. Box 7328, Little Rock, AR 72217.