Robert Samuels

Robert Samuels, PhD, 99, of Johnson City, passed away Friday, March 23, 2018, in the Johnson City Medical Center. Robert had resided in Johnson City since 1979. He was the son of Louis I. and Anna W. Samuels of Philadelphia. Graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with his Bachelors and Masters before the Second World War, he was awarded a Doctorate in Zoology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1952. During the Second World War he served as an officer in the Public Health Service in Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, and Louisiana. He conducted research on mosquito eradication as part of the war effort and some of his most interesting stories were about collecting samples from a pirogue in the bayous outside of New Orleans. He received an honorable discharge on September 4, 1946. He married the beautiful Gloria Siegel in Berkeley, California on June 11, 1948, claiming that this prevented him from being labeled a confirmed bachelor by one day as his thirtieth birthday was June 12, 1948. They were married by a Justice of the Peace, after which Gloria?s mother insisted they return to Brooklyn, New York to be married by a rabbi. The first of his daughters, Deborah, was born in California. In 1954 the family moved to Denver, Colorado where he did research and taught at the University of Colorado. His son, Joel, was born there, followed by another daughter, Leslie. Moves to Nashville, Tennessee to teach at Meharry Medical College and Indianapolis, Indiana followed. In Indiana he taught at IUPUI until 1979 when he accepted a position in the Biology department at ETSU in Johnson City. He became a professor emeritus upon retirement from teaching and kept an active and lively relationship with both the Biology Department and fellow researchers. It is remarkable to note that his initial research was done using a strain of Trichomonas that he kept alive for fifty years through the advent of genetic understanding, eventually succeeding in marking their genes with radioactive isotopes. He had a passionate interest in cameras and photography, acquiring many antique and unusual varieties. He traveled extensively with Gloria, recording beautiful photos of not only architecture but also flowers. He taught us to look for beauty in all things. In addition to his parents, Robert was preceded in death by one sister, Ethyl Samuels Blaker. Survivors include: his wife of sixty-nine and three quarters years, Gloria; one son, Joel and his wife Lynn; two daughters, Deborah Freeman and her husband Andrew, and Leslie Entsminger and her husband Lee; two sisters, Leanore Klayman and Rhoda Kauffman; eight grandchildren, Annie Hayami and her husband Brad, Adam Entsminger and his wife Leslie, Will Freeman, Andrew Entsminger, Abigail Entsminger, Joshua Entsminger, Eloise Samuels and Marjorie Samuels; three great grandchildren, Jackson and Sylvia Hayami and Leo Entsminger; nieces and nephews. The family will schedule a celebration of life at a future date and requests contributions be made in Robert?s name to the charity of one?s choice.