Eugene Daniel "Sam" Guy, Sr. of Avondale Estates loved dogs. Though he didn't have a pup of his own, dogs would migrate to Guy because he had a way with them, according to neighbors.

Guy walked every day with Lucy, neighbor Tom and Kathy Delaney's dog. She became his companion and friend. He would take Lucy for walks, including to the park where she would play with other dogs.

Guy loved Lucy so much, another neighbor Lesley Smith painted a watercolor of him with the dog.

"We knew him more than 25 years," said Tom Delaney. "He loved dogs but he didn't feel the need to own one. He would informally adopt our dogs. He trained them, too. It was a great partnership."

Guy died of lung cancer at the age of 84 on Saturday, Dec. 4. Survivors include children Carol Poe of Hammond, Ind., Eugene Daniel "Dan" Guy Jr. of Marietta, Nancy Lucht of Neenah, Wisc., and Sherri Hunter of San Antonio, Texas. He is also survived by a sister Joyce Watts; 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. His wife Dixie died in 1992.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Red Cross at 2025 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 2006 or the 7th Infantry Regiment Association, www.cottonbalers.com.

Born in Birmingham, Ala. on Jan. 18, 1926, Guy served four years in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947.

After the Navy, Guy had a 47-year career with the American Red Cross. It was with the Red Cross that Guy became involved with each subsequent war or conflict since World War II, according to his son, Dan Guy.

Among Guy's duties, he was field director serving the 7th Infantry Regiment during the Korean conflict, and later in the Middle East.

At one point, while stationed in Yokota Air Force Base in Japan, Guy delivered care packages to American Prisoners of War in China.

"Every month, he went to Hong Kong for prisoners," Dan Guy said. "Each box was 10 kilos in weight and they were filled with canned goods, cigarettes, candies, peanut butter, shaving gear, toilet paper and all the things they did not get in prison. I helped with many of these packages."

If the package was too light on a scale, Guy filled it with extra sticks of gum or candies.

"He didn't want anyone to be shorted," Dan Guy said. "He put them on a C-130 and fly them to Hong Kong. He would walk across the bridge and deliver them to prisons."

Guy also helped with the negotiations for release of these POWs, including John T. Downey, who spent 20 years in a Chinese prison. A CIA officer, Downey was shot down over Communist China in 1952. For Downey's release to U.S. authorities on March 12, 1973, Guy signed the paperwork then walked him across the LoWu bridge to freedom.

"As Downey was brought towards the bridge, he saw dad being pulled into a side room," Dan Guy said. "[Downey] later told my dad that he thought something had gone wrong. But they asked him to sign custody papers, then walk [Downey] across."

Guy lived in Avondale Estates off and on with his family since the 1970s. Besides living in Japan, the Guys also lived in places including Parris Island, S.C., and Puerto Rico, where they lived the longest.

Though Guy never remarried, he traveled regularly with longtime companion Frances Barton of San Antonio.

"They had a regular 8 p.m. phone call," said Dan Guy. "They would talk like schoolchildren."

Guy was involved in the Avondale Estates Investment Club and active in the community, especially with the American Legion Harold Byrd Post 66 in Avondale Estates. He was finance officer of the legion. Due to his involvement with the local post, the American Legion named him Legionnaire of the Year for 2010-2011.

"Sam was a great 'little' guy," said Steve Carson, who's with the American Legion Post 66. "He was small in statue but big in heart. I came up with the idea to start planting trees in the vacant spaces in the back."

The first tree will be planted in honor of Guy in a ceremony to be announced in the near future, Carson said. The tree will be planted in an area that used to be part of a nine-hole golf course, until MARTA was built.

"Dad and I played that course many years," Dan Guy said, adding that it will be special because of those memories.

Avondale resident Tom Meriam said Guy was very patriotic, recalling how Guy's house was filled with paraphernalia from these worldly experiences while with the Red Cross.

"He was involved in most major wars in one way or another," Meriam said. "For a lot of people that liked him, they liked him very much. I'm going to miss him a lot."