Salvatore S. “Sam” Vasta, II

Salvatore S. “Sam” Vasta, II

July 5, 1955 – July 17, 2020

Salvatore Sebastian Vasta II, “Sam,” age 65, passed away from cancer. He is survived by his wife, Christina Vasta; sons, Salvatore “Sammy” Vasta III (Cassie) and Paul Vasta; daughter, Gina White (Adam); parents, Salvatore and Joyce Vasta; granddaughters, Elena and Briella; future grandson, belonging to Sammy & Cassie; siblings: Gino (Sue), Cindy, Michael, Ric, Tony (Johanna); and nephews.

First and foremost, Sam loved the Lord. During the last few years of his life he pursued his relationship with Christ after a life-changing experience he had on the way to a Chemo Treatment on June 22, 2018. Sam would often go to the early Sunday service at Wildewood Christian Church with his chemo pack on, then afterward head straight to Bergan Mercy to get fluids and to get the chemo pack taken off. He and Chris attended many Bible studies at Wildewood and formed many friendships with fellow Christians.  On March 24, 2019 Sam, his wife Chris, and his sister-in-law Toni, were all baptized in front of the church congregation.

Sam was born in Omaha, Nebraska.  Some of his passions in life were bowling, motorcycles, and NASCAR. He loved watching NASCAR races and even got his granddaughters to join in with him for a while until they would later convince him to watch a Disney movie. He loved playing with the granddaughters, from letting them bring him fake tea and cupcakes from their play kitchen, to having plastic ball fights from their bouncy house. He always bought Gingerbread houses at Christmas for them to enjoy decorating; sidewalk chalk for them to show off their masterpieces in the driveway; and often he would come home from the store with toys for them just because he couldn’t resist seeing them smile and giggle.

The last few years of his life, he loved putting up bird feeders in the back yard and would get special bird seed to attract particular birds to come visit. He would often summon Chris over to the window to show her a new type of bird that had stopped by to eat some of the food.  He didn’t forget about the squirrels—they would always have corn to eat and many times would flip upside down to get at the bird seed, which Sam and Chris found quite entertaining.

His last job was working in the Catering office at UNMC.  He loved working with his co-workers and thought of them as friends.  He would often tell Chris the stories of who had stopped by his desk to talk to him.  He loved his co-workers and being able to help solve a problem or two for anyone who would ask. He often talked about how loved he felt by everyone that would ask him how he was doing with his fight against cancer.

He loved his wife, Chris, his kids, grandkids, Dad and Mom, brothers, sister, co-workers, friends, and neighbors. Even though he didn’t want to leave and fought it till the very end, we know that one day we will see him again because of our faith in Christ Jesus.

VISITATION observing CDC guidelines: Wednesday, July 22^nd from 4pm to 7pm at the West Center Chapel.  FUNERAL SERVICE: Thursday, July 23^rd at 1pm at Wildewood Christian Church, 1255 Royal Drive in Papillion.  To view a live broadcast of the Funeral Service, please go to www.heafeyheafey.com and click the “View Live Service” button on the home page or click on Service Link below.

Memorials will be directed by the family.

Funeral Service Link: https://boxcast.tv/view/salvatore-vasta-969434