DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA. – Samuel “Sam” Spector, 90, of Deerfield Beach, Fla., passed away Sept. 30, 2005 after a brief illness at the Hospice By The Sea in Boca Raton, Fla.

Sam was born Dec. 4, 1914 in Boston, Mass., the son of Abraham Spector and Ida Eppleman Spector. His parents, who emigrated from Russia, brought their children up to be very family oriented, industrious and self-reliant. Sam attended Boston schools while spending many wonderful summers in Old Orchard Beach with many other family members.

He and his beloved twin brother Max Spector both learned the value of hard work during the depression. Those teachings never left Sam during his life right up to his final days. Sam developed an entrepreneurial spirit and at a young age entered the business world in Old Orchard Beach. At 10 years old, along with Max, he worked for his sister, Anna Sudenfield, in her food stand under the world famous Old Orchard Beach Pier. His next job involved running the games for Anna's husband, Jack Sudenfield, who owned the games in the Whiteway on East Grand Avenue. Sam's first business venture with his brother Max was a penny arcade at Palace Playland. He designed the only glass/mirrored funhouse in the state with a mechanical moving Hawaiian hula girl on the top of the funhouse. People would stay for many hours, mainly because they couldn't find their way out. They owned the arcade on the corner of Main Street and East Grand Avenue for many years and the general consensus was that it was the best arcade on the beach with the finest prizes.

In 1946, he and his brother started looking to expand outside of Old Orchard and purchased land on Main Street in York Beach. They built another arcade there and then purchased a large tract of land at the top of Main Street where they designed and built the York Beach Amusement Park. A few years later they added a cageless animal zoo to the park. They wanted "loose" animals, so that those that visited the park could walk freely among them, and they then changed the name to "Animal Forest Park." It was visited each summer by thousands and thousands of people from many different states and countries. Shortly after establishing the zoo, they built a one-mile road from Route 1 to the Park that connected the town of York Beach to Route 1. The business flourished as the largest of its kind in Maine. They also built and operated two other Animal Parks in Laconia and North Conway, N.H. Over the years, they provided employment to thousands of people. In 1981, Sam and his brother Max sold the parks and joined the ranks of the retired. Sam was a natural businessman who worked hard and played hard. His sense of humor was so unique, it was difficult to keep from laughing all the time when around him. Family and friends never knew what to expect from him. He always had a gleam in his eye and was ready to play jokes on anyone he met. Once a week he would drive to Boston to pick up a load of fish so the customers could feed the sea lions. A friend of Sam’s was a toll keeper on the Route One Portsmouth Bridge. One time he pretended to pay his friend the money, but instead slapped a fish into his outstretched hand. He loved music and had a great singing voice that he used quite often to serenade his children and grandchildren.

We never knew what he would bring home. Once he traveled to the Old Steel Pier in Atlantic City and purchased 600 ornate show girl costumes and hats. He had them trucked down to his home in North Miami Beach so that his children could play dress up with them and then trucked them up to the park where he used them to dress the different mannequins he had in displays all around the park and zoo. Another time he went to buy a "little" tape and came back with 2,000 pounds of different colored tape, which the family still uses to this day.

His favorite food was sweet corn and he once ate 22 ears of corn in one sitting.

Sam was also fearless. In the 50s, three bear cubs escaped from the Animal Forest. Two of them were caught right away, but the third bear escaped capture. Sam got a call that the bear was spotted in a tall tree on Long Sands. When he and other family members got there, a huge crowd of people were waiting and watching. Fireman were there, dressed in full fire gear, heavy thick gloves and boots. They were not having any success. Sam, with just a burlap bag, climbed the tall ladder in street clothes and no gloves, grabbed the bear by the neck, put him in the bag and climbed back down the tall ladder to a loud round of applause from the crowd.

Before the zoo was built, he had a huge cage in the amusement park with monkeys. Every Monday was Monkey Birthday Party Night. He would climb into the huge cage with the monkeys and give them a birthday cake. He would play with and imitate the monkeys while in the cage. Hundreds of people would watch him go through his monkey shenanigans every week and would roar their approval with laughter and applause. He was a true showman! He rarely sat in his office, but could usually be found in the amusement park or zoo, on top of the merry-go-round, checking the Dark Ride, or fixing the ice cream machine. He was a jack- of-all-trades who could fix almost anything. Sam was a very strong man both mentally and physically. While he had many talents he didn’t brag. He was a gracious, kind, and considerate man who thought of others before himself. He was especially proud of his family and his family was and will always be proud of him. Sam lived in a number of locations over the years including Portland, Old Orchard Beach, Ogunquit and Wells; Boston and Marblehead, Mass.; Miami Beach, North Miami Beach and Deerfield Beach, Fla. He loved to travel. When Lisa, his first grandchild was born in Okinawa, he jumped on a plane to come and see her. He traveled to Hong Kong, Israel, Canada, Mexico and all around the United States.

Sam was predeceased by his first wife, Helen Lovett Spector; and his second wife, Dorothy Bunson Spector; a son Edwin Spector; three sisters Anna Spector Sudenfield, Mary Spector Weiner, Bessie Spector; and a brother Israel Spector.

He is survived by four daughters, Anita Finkelman and son-in-law Larry Finkelman of Portland, Susan Friedman and son-in-law Carl Friedman of Saco, Carolyn Gillis and son-in-law Kevin Gillis of Falmouth, and Marjorie Goldberg and son-in-law Kenneth Goldberg of Sarasota, Fla.; his beloved twin brother Max Spector of Kittery and sister-in-law Estelle Balkan Spector, and sister-in-law Ethel Lovett Saxe and brother-in-law Sumner Saxe, and sister-in-law Ruth Spector; 15 adoring grandchildren, Lisa Finkelman, Alex Wu, Daryl Finkelman, Derek Finkelman, Karen Spires Finkelman, Meredith Friedman Speed, Darrell Speed, Tracy Friedman Cameron, Paul Cameron, Melissa Gillis, Michael Gillis, Jesse Goldberg, Christy Conner Goldberg, Lindsay Goldberg and Kimberly Goldberg; eight great -grandchildren, who were the apple of his eye, Dante Wu, Connor Finkelman, Caleb Finkelman, Camden Finkelman, Brady Speed, Sophie Speed, Logan Speed and Elizabeth Cameron. Also many adoring nephews and nieces to include: Jerry Spector, Arlene Spector Sheriff, Marilyn Spector Sockol, Sylvia Weiner Margolis, Arthur Weiner, Helene Saxe Mussman and her husband Stephen Mussman, Robin Saxe, Alan Saxe, Shirley Spector Kerner and Sylvia Foreman.

A private family service will take place in Florida.