Ksenya Nicole Samsonova

Ksenya Nicole Samsonova, named after a beautiful Russian CZAR, age 28, passed away at 3:03 AM August 7, 2020. Ksenya is survived by her mother, Gelena (Helen) Verucchi of Plano, Texas.

Ksenya was born in Seversk, Tomsk Region, Russia on October 4, 1991. She attended 1 ^st grade in Seversk and moved to Dallas, Texas with her mother in June of 2000 to ensure she had access to the best healthcare to care for her diabetes. She attended elementary school in Irving, Texas as an ESL student, and within four months, was recognized and moved into the gifted and talented program.  Ksenya attended Forest Wood Middle School in Flower Mound, and Flower Mound High School for two years. She was a valued player on the volleyball teams for both schools and attended private art school after school.  She was recognized by her art teacher and encouraged to audition for acceptance into Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She was accepted and attended her Junior and Senior years there. Her success at Booker T.  Washington resulted in three full-ride scholarships to Parson’s New York, Kansas City Art Institute, and the University of North Texas. She chose Kansas City Art Institute, a private school, for its focus on art and smaller class sizes. In her senior year, her professor suggested that she transfer to UNT to pursue her interest in preservation art, which is a specialty at UNT.  She graduated from UNT in 2015 with a B.A. in Art History.

As a student in Kansas City, she began working for Cooper Hawk Winery and Restaurant as a wine-tasting event specialist where she discovered her love for wine and culinary arts. When she moved to Dallas to finish her final year of college, she was hired by Spec’s as a Wine Specialist. Her career goal grew from art restoration to a becoming a European cultural and art consultant and Sommelier for travel enthusiasts.

Ksenya was a giving and loving young woman from the time she was a child. When she was just 12, her goals were to make enough money to share with others, take care of orphans and feed hungry people, and she showed signs even then of becoming a “foodie.”

She struggled with diabetes all of her life, but managed it well through healthy living and constant attention. In April of 2015, her femur shattered as a result of her diabetes, and she had a series of surgeries to replace the bone and then repair the initial botched surgery and infections that followed.  In November, she left the rehab facility she had been in since April to have her 4 ^th surgery – this was to be a simple surgery to drain some fluid from her knee for continued healing. After the surgery, she was up and walking around the same day. On the 3 ^rd day of her recovery, she told her Mom not to bring her lunch because she’d already eaten, walked around the floor at Parkland, where her surgery took place, and was going to take a nap. She sent a sweet photo kiss and said she looked forward to seeing her at dinner. That was the last time anyone spoke to this beautiful young woman. What happened next is unthinkable, but so real. Ksenya was given a lethal dose of opioid pain killers, she was not on a heart monitor, and had passed out from the same medication each of the three days before – requiring resuscitation. Helen knew none of this, but the hospital staff was told repeatedly by Ksenya that this drug was not working correctly and Ksenya herself had requested something else for the pain all three days. This is all documented in her charts.

Almost five years later, Ksenya has passed into Heaven to take her art, soul and love for others to serve in Heaven.  She leaves behind her beautiful mom, who has given so much to so many of our daughters as a gymnastics coach and has our promise that she will not go through this alone or in vain. Thank you for being a part of Ksenya’s memory and legacy.

There will be a Visitation from 6:00pm -7:00 pm on Saturday, August 15, 2020 at Allen Family Funeral Options.

The Celebration of Life Service will follow starting at 7:00pm.

To view the Visitation and Celebration of Life click the following link:

http://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/34974