 He died of heart disease in Chicago, in November 1966, and was buried in an unmarked grave at the Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery, in Homewood, Illinois.On June 25, 2019, "The New York Times Magazine" listed Washboard Sam among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.A concert organized by the executive producer Steve Salter, of the Killer Blues organization, was held on September 18, 2009, at the Howmet Playhouse Theater, in Whitehall, Michigan, to raise monies for a headstone for Washboard Sam's grave.