Sam Sadin by Terry Cooper
Sam and I met at City College Downtown - 23rd St. in 1937. Many years later the school became an independent college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. It became Baruch College.
I entered then as one of the few freshmen women admitted to what had been an all male school for years. Women started being admitted to the school in the day session in about 1935. The evening session had women many years longer.
We were 75 women in a class of about 400 men. The women needed a higher average than the men to be admitted. Given that ratio, there were several marriages among classmates.
Sam was in the class of 1939. We both belonged to the American Student Union - ASU - which was the liberal/radical group on campus. In the early years it was a pacifist group and members took the Oxford Pledge - which stated that they would not support any war undertaken by the US government.
After the rise of Nazism, the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the position obviously changed.
We were married when I was still in my senior year – October 6, 1940. I was graduated in January 1941. The draft was going into effect on October 16th 1940, and married men were initially exempt, so we beat the deadline.
After Pearl Harbor the whole situation changed. Sam enlisted in the army in 1942. Was discharged in 1946 with the rank of Captain. He served in the Quartermaster Corps. Because of his accounting background he was assigned to keep track of shipments sent overseas from Fort Hamilton, an army base which was on the shore of Brooklyn. He never served overseas.
Our first son Robert was born on October 31st 1945 while Sam was still in service. We had an apartment in the Bronx, and he commuted to the army base in Brooklyn in his uniform. Our second son Arthur was born Feb 19, 1949 - while we still lived in the Bronx. We moved to New Hyde Park, Long Island in October 1951 while I was pregnant with our daughter Madeline.
During the war I shared an apartment on East 11th St. and 2nd Ave. in what is now the famous "East Village" with 2 friends whose husbands were also in the army.
Sam worked for a prestigious NYC accounting firm - Eisner & Lubin – after graduation. Several of his classmates also worked there. Since they had children they were not drafted. After the war Sam returned there. However, his classmates were already partners, and Sam had never really wanted to be an accountant.
A cousin who owned a lumber business asked him to become their comptroller. Sam left the accounting firm and worked for his cousin. They were totally different personalities, and it wasn't a good match.
Sam left in 1949 and set up his own lumber trading corporation. He was essentially a middleman. Bought carloads and shiploads of lumber from the west coast and from Canada. while the lumber was en route he sold it to local lumber yards who were thriving in the post-war suburban building boom.
Since he paid for the lumber when he bought it, at the time of arrival he either made money or lost money depending on the market. It was quite volatile.
After Madeline died in an auto accident in 1970, Sam felt he did not want to spend the rest of his life selling 2x4's.
I was already working for the Nassau County Dept. of Senior Citizen Affairs. This was one of the first offices for the aging set up under the 1965 Older Americans Act. I was in charge of the Information & Referral Dept. Since I had worked in the field as a senior citizen club director prior to that, I had accumulated quite a vast knowledge of what was ( and was not) available for older people.
I would often discuss with Sam some of the bureaucratic problems I encountered. He drew on his knowledge of tax accounting and said when people had a tax problem they would appeal and often won the hearing.
He felt our office was not oriented enough towards advocacy and fighting the decisions of Social Security or Dept. of Social Services (Welfare).
He discussed this concept with some friends we knew at the Hunter College School of Social Work. They agreed to fund a program he developed on "Law and Rights of Older Adults". This was to train social workers, lawyers and others in the field of aging of the entitlements due under the laws for older adults and to enhance their advocacy skills.
He sold the lumber business and went to work for Hunter College. Many times he would be introduced as follows: "Neither a social worker nor a lawyer, Sam Sadin helped develop the field of elder law" The staff he initially hired went on to form their own consulting firms and were pioneers in the field.
In his late 70's he began to show symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (which his mother had).
We spent hours prior to a dinner where he was going to be presented with the Hunter College Medal of Honor trying to write a few words of thanks. This was in sharp contrast to his earlier persona where he was a fluent, dramatic, impressive, extemporaneous speaker (At large student peace demonstrations, e.g.)
We all held our breath when my sons escorted a frail man to the dais. He stood at the podium -and was totally transformed back to the vibrant speaker of his youth. He was dynamic, charming and totally "with it"
I had excellent caregivers for him at home, thanks to having the foresight to buy a good long term care insurance policy.
He died at home on March 2l, 2004 at 86. About 400 people attended the standing room only funeral service. On his tombstone we wrote:
“A Man of Ideals and Action”
On my mother's tombstone is engraved "A Woman of Understanding" and on my father's "A Man of Integrity" Madeline's stone reads : “A Young Woman of Beauty.” I had thought “A Beautiful Young Woman” - but Dan who was still alive, and a writer, turned the phrasing to be more poetic.
Although I never went on to get a master's in social work, the social workers in the field considered me an honorary social worker without portfolio. In fact, I was the co- chairperson of the Nat’l Assoc of Social Workers Council on Aging of Nassau County.
In an earlier period of Sam’s life he become very involved with an organization – the Interracial Council on Business Opportunity - This was in the '60's
He represented the American Jewish Committee of which he was a vice-chairman, and a good friend Lyle Marshall, one of the first black tax lawyers, was the co-chair from the Urban League.
They organized a corps of business owner volunteers to help Blacks get into business. The Jewish men had uncles and fathers in business, but most Blacks did not have that family background. It was a very successful program.
Sam was honored by them at a dinner at the Playboy Club! It was one place where there was no discrimination!