**Sammy McDowell at Sammy’s Avenue Eatery in 2019.** Photo by David Pierini

By David Pierini and Azhae’la Hanson, Staff Reporters

A community picnic and a joyous church service allowed hundreds of mourners to bid goodbye to Sammy McDowell. He was celebrated with spoken tributes, soaring sermons, a sky full of balloons and gospel music.

These were precisely the types of Northside events for which McDowell, the owner of Sammy’s Avenue Eatery on West Broadway Avenue, would be called on to serve food.

Friends and family said he was always feeding his community in some way, whether it be food for an empty stomach or with love and spiritual guidance to sate the hunger of the soul.

McDowell died on April 21 after collapsing during Sunday worship at Shiloh Temple International Ministries.

At his funeral service on May 3, accents of yellow popped from the church finery, from boutonnieres on men’s lapels to flowy organza church hats on women.

The yellow was chosen to honor McDowell’s abundant light, which will continue to glow long after his passing.

“Sammy was a light,” said Pastor Andre Dukes. “Yellow is bright; it is like the sun and gives life. Are you letting your light shine today?”

McDowell opened his sandwich and coffee shop in 2012, and it quickly became a spot where the community could gather. He was also a popular choice to cater community events.

**Brian Bogan released his balloon amongst a crowd of others to honor his lifelong friend Sammy McDowell.** Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

He mentored other young entrepreneurs and was known to feed people who could not pay and employ those who needed work.

McDowell was working on plans to franchise the eatery, giving each person crucial to the operation of his restaurant the opportunity to run one of their own.

“The thing about Uncle Sammy is that everybody ate,” Bard said at the picnic and balloon launch a few days after he passed. “Uncle Sammy represents the heart of the Northside. He wasn’t selfish with his knowledge. I watched people walk in with no job and walk out with a career.”

Nephew Michael McDowell Jr. told mourners he is a chef today thanks to Sammy, who brought him in to help start Sammy’s Avenue Eatery in 2012.

“As you all know, when he was in a space, he left it better than he found it,” Michael McDowell Jr. said. “Whether you went to his restaurant and had some food or had a conversation with my uncle, he left you better than he found you.”

**Mourners embrace as they pay respects to Sammy McDowell before the start of his funeral service.** Photo by David Pierini

Arthur Melvin Samuel McDowell was born in Chicago on March 4, 1976, to Barn and Olivia McDowell, who preceded him in death. In 1991, the family moved to North Minneapolis, where McDowell attended Henry High School.

He went on to manage a Kentucky Fried Chicken and later Subway and Jimmy John's shops before leaving to begin a catering business.

He is survived by siblings Kenneth Pinex, Shaawn-Dai McDowell, Michael McDowell Sr., Donell McDowell Sr., Angela McDowell, and Byron McDowell, as well as several nieces and nephews.

**Bishop Richard Howell leads a process of family and friends. Behind him, Gov. Tim Walz.** Photo by David Pierini

Several government officials paid tribute to Sammy McDowell. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Hennepin County Commissioner Irene Fernando and City Councilman Jeremiah Ellison spoke at the service. Ellison read a proclamation honoring McDowell.

The office of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar sent a videotape of the congresswoman reading a proclamation on the House floor in honor of McDowell.

Walz said he came to know McDowell when he was first considering a run for governor. Shiloh Temple’s Bishop Richard Howell encouraged Walz to meet with Sammy and to listen and suppress the urge to talk.

“I will admit I was a bit intimidated,” Walz said. “Because when you have one name like Beyonce or Cher, that’s scary. So, I went and sat with Sammy… He just radiated decency. He felt right, he felt good, and it takes me back to an old adage that people don’t want their governor to give them a sermon. They expect their governor to try and live one. Of all the people I’ve met, Sammy lived a sermon. He did it with decency and he did it with kindness.”

For the picnic and balloon launch on April 23, Shiloh corresponded with people across several states who held Sammy close to them to release balloons simultaneously.

“I wish Sammy was here right now to see the impact on these many lives,” Bishop Richard Howell said.

Shavonne Johnson said she met McDowell nine years ago as a patron and became a close friend.

**Many wore yellow to represent the light Sammy shared with others.** Photo by David Pierini

He noticed how she connected with other patrons and referred to her as Queen and joked that the patrons were her Queendom.

“But there was always a lesson in the way Sammy spoke,” she said. “He believed in me to make sure I took responsibility for our community. ‘Don’t be impatient with our people,’ he would tell me. I hold that memory close to me.”

The McDowell family will continue to operate Sammy's Avenue Eatery. The shop reopened the next day after its doors were locked for the May 3 funeral.

Like the sun and the life it gives ‘Sammy was a light’