Sam Morrison, the long-retired co-founder of the Musical Moments jukebox and games route sprinkled around Manhattan and the Bronx, passed away March 6 at the Calvary Hospice in the latter borough from heart and kidney failure. He was 93.
Sam, along with his late partner Steve Tarzanin, created their route from scratch some years after the end of World War II. They ran it until sometime after the video game boom of the early ’80s. Sam was the outside man who scored locations and made the collections while Steve did the repairs from inside their headquarters on Webster Avenue.
Sam was active in the old New York MONY operator association as its Sergeant at Arms. He also stayed in touch with his fellow soldiers from the famed 10th Mountain Division, the U.S. Army unit that saw severe action in Italy during that conflict. After retiring from coin-op, he devoted a lot of time to his favorite activity of ship cruising where he’d sometimes exercise his dream of becoming a standup comedian.
Sam, who is survived by daughter Tracy, was buried in Beth Israel Cemetery of Woodbridge, N.J., where his departed wife Miriam and other late relatives rest. He was a friend of RePlay’s publisher Ed Adlum for over 50 years and taught him things about the operating business the best way possible: by talking shop while driving around those streets in his Musical Moments van.
“Sammy was one special guy and I hope God blesses him and Tracy at this sad time,” said Eddie.
