Sam Combs

The late Sam Combs taught vocational agriculture at Wheatley High School in Beggs before being hired by the Soil Conservation Service. He retired from SCS in 1990.

He was a champion of high school vocational agricultural programs and co-founded the Retired Educators for Agriculture Programs to address the shortage of African-American role models in agricultural-related occupations. Today REAP works to increase minority participation in FFA, provide mentors, locate college scholarships and encourage young African-Americans to train for careers in agriculture. Combs died in 1999.