Deacon Sammie Louis Torbit Sr. was the youngest of nine children born to the late Henry and Minnie Canty Torbit on January 18, 1938 in Rodman, SC. He graduated from Finley Senior High School in Chester, SC where he was also a bus driver.

Sammie was a baseball player for the Rodman Giants as a catcher and his older brother Willie Torbit was the pitcher. They were so good that they once had the opportunity to try out for the LA Dodgers baseball team but life had other plans for them. You name it Sammie could do it. He was a jack-of-all-trades! Sammie was a construction foreman for the late Sam W. Smith Sr. and Son of Eden, NC for more than 50 years. He traveled to all parts of North Carolina and Virginia. Sammie was very knowledgeable and could operate a Back Hoe, Tractor Trailer and Fork Lift. He was also a skilled plumber and many called on him for his services.

Upon moving to Winston-Salem Sammie joined Emmanuel Baptist Church in January of 1967, under the leadership of the late Reverend Sir Walter Mack Sr. He immediately felt the need to become active and joined the Spiritual Choir and later became a member of the Laymen's League and went on to serve as President of both auxiliaries. Deacon Torbit became Chairman of the Deacon Board in 1980. His most challenging task as Chairman occurred after the death of his spiritual mentor Reverend Sir Walter Mack, Sr. when the church was temporarily without a pastor. The awesome responsibility for holding the congregation together during the interim weighed heavily on him at times. Through constant prayer and generous support from other members of the church family, he was successful in keeping the congregation unified and faithful to its mission until Reverend Dr. John Mendez was elected to lead the flock.

Deacon Torbit held several roles at Emmanuel Baptist Church from Van and Bus Driver to Deacon, but his favorite role was that of the leader of the Spiritual Choir. For many years you could hear members say to him as he came down the aisle "Deac, I wanna hear you sing my song today!!" He took great pride in knowing that his singing of the old country spirituals on which he had been raised brought so much joy to others.

He was preceded in death in 1967 by his 17 month old twins - Donald James and Deborah Jean Torbit; four brothers - John D. Torbit, Theodore Torbit, McKinley Torbit and Tom Henry Torbit; three sisters - Minnie M. Torbit-Joynes, Rosie Torbit-Walker and Amelia Torbit-Bell.

Deacon Torbit is survived by high school sweetheart and his loving wife of 61 years - Bobbie Jean Torbit; his children, Cheryl, Sammie and Cassandra Torbit all of Winston-Salem NC; his loving older brother whom he shared so much of his life with - Willie James Torbit Sr., Brother and Sister-in-Law James M. Lewis and Loise Lewis of Columbia, SC; a special nephew - Reverend John D. Torbit Jr. of Baltimore MD and a host of nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and friends.

His remains may be viewed 12pm-6pm Friday, February 19, 2021. Services: private.