Samuel W. Hall, 29, Pennsylvania Fish Commission warden, helped to save Fay H. B. Slike, 21, and her husband, William W. Slike, Jr., 28, schoolteacher, from drowning, Lititz, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1969. When their rowboat capsized in a lake, the Slikes were submerged briefly in water 10 feet deep. Mrs. Slike then flailed at the surface and screamed for help, but Slike alternately rose and sank making only weak arm movements. Hall ran 700 feet to the bank and undressed to his trousers. He waded and swam a 150 feet to Mrs. Slike, who had been submerged briefly again and had become hysterical. She grasped him, causing both to go under. Hall surfaced with Mrs. Slike clinging to him. He slapped her; and she halted her hysterical screaming and relaxed her holds. Hall then towed her 100 feet to a cushion-type life preserver. She held to it while Hall swam 100 feet farther to where Slike had submerged in water 12 feet deep. Although tired and somewhat winded, Hall submerged three feet and brought Slike to the surface. He was unconscious. Hall towed Slike 100 feet back to where his wife was clinging to the cushion 150 feet from the bank. By that time Hall was extremely weary. A man in a canoe reached them. Hall grasped the craft with one hand while with the other he helped to support both Slike and his wife by holding their arms on the life cushion. Towing all three by Hall’s hold on the canoe, the man paddled the craft to wadable water. Slike was hospitalized. He recovered fully in two weeks.
Obituary
Samuel W. Hall, 86, Confluence, passed away Tuesday, September 1, 2026 at his home, surrounded by his family. He was born December 20, 1939 in Confluence, a son of Charles and Olive (Parnell) Hall. His parents, sister, Betty Jane, brothers, Fred and Paul and step brother, Charles “Sherd” Hall preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife, Donna (Bower) Hall; God Children, Angela Sarver (Chad Ravenscroft), Alexis Tennant, and Jereme and Daniel Sarver and the Ravenscroft children; lifetime friends, Daniel and Sharon Sarver; brothers, Ed Hall and Ted Hall (Marla Bates) and a niece, Barbara Conn (Bill) and their children. Sam was the owner/operator of S. Worley Co., Tub Run Market, Tub Run Holdings and JDS Farm and Storage. He was a former fish warden in Lancaster and Lebanon counties and for a time oversaw 17 counties in northwestern PA. He was awarded the Carnegie Medal Award in Harrisburg for saving the lives of two drowning fishermen on Speedwell Forge Lake in Lititz. He was also a former substitute mail carrier in Confluence and an avid fisherman. Sam was a US Army veteran, a member of Somerset Lodge 358 F. & A.M., Harrisburg/Lancaster Consistory, Ursina American Legion Post 946, Confluence VFW Post 7250, Turkeyfoot Fish and Game Assoc. and the Turkeyfoot Valley Baptist Church in Confluence.