Edward Sammarco

Edward L. Sammarco, 62, of Overland Park, Kan., passed away October 1, 2019, in his home surrounded by family after a courageous and inspirational battle with pancreatic cancer. He was preceded in death by his father, Virgil.

Edward grew up with four close-knit siblings in the Youngstown, Ohio, area. He graduated in 1975 from Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School in Youngstown. He subsequently graduated from Youngstown State University with a B.S. in Business Administration and then from University of Houston with an M.B.A. with finance concentration.
Edward married Nancy (Hudak) Sammarco, the great love of his life, on Dec. 26, 1981, in Wampum, Pa. Shortly after, they moved to Houston, Texas, and had three loving children: Eric, Andrea and Ally. Edward began his 30+ year finance career at Global Marine, Inc. in Houston as Manager of Financing Administration. In 1996, he moved with his family to Overland Park and worked as Finance Director at Sprint for more than ten years. He then held positions as Chief Financial Officer at Grantham University and CFO Consultant at e2E, LLC--both in the Kansas City area.

Edward received many awards throughout his finance career, including Kansas City Business Journal’s CFO of the Year award in 2014, but his greatest achievement in life was raising his three beloved children. Edward was the epitome of a family man--he sacrificed time and money to give his kids countless exceptional childhood memories and passed on invaluable life lessons to them. A diehard sports fan, he loved coaching his kids’ sports teams as well as watching Notre Dame football, KU basketball, Chiefs and Royals games with them. His other hobbies included biking, poker games, spending time with friends, playing golf with his Dad and enjoying Italian food with his family at Bella Napoli. Edward was also a licensed pilot and a basketball referee on the weekends. He was a member of Ascension Catholic Church in Overland Park.

Later in life, he took on one of his proudest and most cherished roles: “Papa” to six doting grandchildren. He will be remembered by many for his uncanny sports trivia knowledge, passion for classic rock music and trademark quick wit.

Edward leaves wife, Nancy Sammarco; mother, Carole Sammarco; sisters, Victoria Sciortino (Gary), Virginia Mackey (Brian) and Louanne Brogley (Kevin) and brother, Anthony Sammarco (Sandra). Also surviving are son Eric Sammarco (Erin), daughters Andrea Anderson (Chris) and Allyson Saxion (Hamilton); and grandchildren Austin, Lucas and Summer Sammarco; Weston Anderson; and Saylor and Marlowe Saxion.

Edward will be incredibly missed by his family, but they are comforted knowing he will be reunited with his father in heaven. A visitation is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019, at Church of the Ascension, 9510 W 127th St, Overland Park, KS 66213. A memorial service will follow at 10:30 a.m. on the same day. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Edward’s memory to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network at http://support.pancan.org/goto/EdSammarco