Sam Relkoff

In Loving Memory of

Sam Relkoff

May 6, 1943 - September 20, 2026

Sam Relkoff passed away on September 20, 2026 in Victoria, BC. He was 83 years old.

Sam was born the youngest of six children on May 6, 1943. He spent his youth with his parents, two brothers and three sisters on the family property on Granite Road outside Nelson, BC. His parents operated a dairy and his dad was a carpenter and log scaler.

Sam tried his hand at several jobs during his life. He worked on land surveying projects in BC, did log scaling like his dad, and owned a furniture refinishing business. He used to fondly describe his experiences surveying since he enjoyed discovering different wild pockets of the province.

Sam was pre-deceased by his parents Mike Sr. and Polly Relkoff. He was also pre-deceased by his siblings Annette, Liz, Peter, Mike Jr. and Nina. He is survived by his wife Lyn Maddix, his daughter Sarah (Rob), his ex-wife Verna and his step-children Samuel, Heather, Justin, Melissa, Lee and Ethan and many nieces and nephews.

Sam took care of the family property and proudly stood up for it on several occasions. He adored animals and they seemed to respond to the commands he used to give them in Russian. He valued a sense of freedom rather than conforming to rules of authority figures. That’s probably why he enjoyed his work as a surveyor. He was intelligent and above all, he was truly young at heart because he sought out amusing and sometimes ridiculous situations. For example, he took bites out of onions as if they were apples and ate raw garlic cloves like candy in order to shock the people around him. He also seemed to accept death as a fact of human destiny, since he spoke of not being afraid of it.

A celebration of life will be held at Taghum Hall - 5915 Taghum Hall Road, Nelson, BC on May 8, 2027 from 11:00 to 3:00.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like to ask that you enjoy a meal including lots of onions and garlic, or read a novel or short story by a Russian author.