He was awesome.

Their Story

Before you can begin to determine what the composition of a particular paragraph will be, you must first decide on an argument and a working thesis statement for your paper. What is the most important idea that you are trying to convey to your reader? The information in each paragraph must be related to that idea. In other words, your paragraphs should remind your reader that there is a recurrent relationship between your thesis and the information in each paragraph. A working thesis functions like a seed from which your paper, and your ideas, will grow. The whole process is an organic one—a natural progression from a seed to a full-blown paper where there are direct, familial relationships between all of the ideas in the paper.

Paragraphs are the building blocks of papers. Many students define paragraphs in terms of length: a paragraph is a group of at least five sentences, a paragraph is half a page long, etc. In reality, though, the unity and coherence of ideas among sentences is what constitutes a paragraph. A paragraph is defined as “a group of sentences or a single sentence that forms a unit” (Lunsford and Connors 116). Length and appearance do not determine whether a section in a paper is a paragraph. For instance, in some styles of writing, particularly journalistic styles, a paragraph can be just one sentence long. Ultimately, a paragraph is a sentence or group of sentences that support one main idea. In this handout, we will refer to this as the “controlling idea,” because it controls what happens in the rest of the paragraph.

Before you can begin to determine what the composition of a particular paragraph will be, you must first decide on an argument and a working thesis statement for your paper. What is the most important idea that you are trying to convey to your reader? The information in each paragraph must be related to that idea. In other words, your paragraphs should remind your reader that there is a recurrent relationship between your thesis and the information in each paragraph. A working thesis functions like a seed from which your paper, and your ideas, will grow. The whole process is an organic one—a natural progression from a seed to a full-blown paper where there are direct, familial relationships between all of the ideas in the paper.

Sam Tyler passed away peacefully at home in Puyallup, Wa on Friday, the 13th, 2023, of natural causes, surrounded by his devoted family. Sam was born May 28th, 1943, in Torrance, Ca to Elmer Tyler and Margie McNally. Sam was born into a large family and as a young boy worked for his stepdad Max’s Electrical company wiring houses across the Puget Sound. Sam graduated from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Wa in 1961 and soon thereafter enlisted in the Navy where he was assigned to the Destroyer USS Buchanan DDG14 stationed out of Bremerton, Wa. During his first Western Pacific tour of duty he caught the travel bug and a lifelong affinity for the sea. He often talked about the wonderous sites, sounds, and smells of 60s era Hong Kong. After the Navy he became a Journeyman Wireman of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local #76 in Tacoma, Wa. Right around this time he met and married his first wife Kathy and together they raised two boys.

A prominent figure in the construction industry for many decades Sam plied his craft all over the world. Sam also taught in the Apprenticeship Program at Bates Technical College in Tacoma where his students adored him and became lifelong friends. Sam loved to teach but he loved to build and travel even more. In the early 80s Sam worked on the WPPS nuclear powerplant where his crew broke records pulling cable. He also worked to build nuclear powerplants in the Philippines and Marshall Islands. For the next two decades Sam worked for the State Department as an award-winning Construction Manager building Embassies and Consulates in Italy, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam, Dubai, Angola, and Mexico. While at his post in Moscow he met his second wife Aurea and they married in 2004.

A consummate adventurer Sam frequently traveled off the beaten path. When Sam worked in the Philippines, he spent weekends riding his motorcycle through the countryside and mountains. One afternoon his motorcycle ran out of gas in the jungle. He decided to hike out on foot and cut through the jungle bush. As nightfall approached, he thought he had a bit of good fortune when he came across a group of men making camp. He pulled out a bottle of rum from his pack and in the best Tagolag he could muster, Sam spent the night swapping stories and swigs by campfire. When dawn broke he was able to see the men in camp were heavily armed and he quickly realized he had stumbled into an insurgent hideout. Nonetheless, Sam had endeared himself, as he often did to those he met, and the men thanked him for the rum and sent him on his way with gas for his motorcycle.

Sam was the living embodiment of an American adventurer. He was an explorer, teacher, and the hardest working man you ever met. There won’t be another one like him. He filled our lives with immense curiosity and wonder. Words cannot express how much of a sense of emptiness remains with his passing.

He is survived by his sons, Zach Tyler and Scott Tyler; wife Aurea; and a host of other family members and friends. His parents predeceased him.

The family would like to thank the tremendously loving and caring people who cared for him in the last years of his life. A heartfelt thanks goes out to the 30th Ave Davita Dialysis, Dr. Beccora, Vineyard Park, and Young At Heart for their wonderful care of Sam.