SAMUEL J. SAVITZ

1936 - 2020

SAVITZ
SAMUEL J.

Bala Cynwyd, PA (1936 - 2020)
Born in West Philadelphia in 1936, the son of Russian immigrants, Sam attended West
Philadelphia High School and Temple University with concentrations in business and
actuarial science. He was recognized early in his career as one of the country's preeminent employee benefits and pension actuaries. He is past president of the American Society of Pension Actuaries and in 2009 the Society conferred a lifetime achievement award for outstanding contributions to the industry. In 1964 Sam founded a benefits consulting firm bearing his name, later acquired by the accounting firm, Laventhol & Horwath, and ultimately emerging again from Laventhol as an independent company, from which Sam retired in 1994, and which retained his name for nearly another 25 years until the firm was acquired by C-BIZ, a national accounting and consulting firm in 2018. Following a distinguished professional career, Sam turned his attention to educational enrichment for another decade, auditing art history and music courses at the University of Pennsylvania, and taking drawing and sculpting courses (Sam also took boxing lessons and learned how to throw a curveball!). In retirement, Sam embarked on a lengthy second career of civic and community engagement and philanthropy, serving as a supporter, trustee and respected thought leader of many venerable Philadelphia arts and cultural organizations, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Philly Pops, The Mann Music Center, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, The National Liberty Museum and the National Museum of American Jewish History, among others, and Sam was appointed a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in 2003. Sam's tenure as a trustee or trustee emeritus of several of these organizations included periods during which the organizations were especially challenged by decreased public funding and increasing competition for philanthropic gifts. Sam is survived, and will be greatly missed, by his beloved wife of 62 years, Selma
(Goldberg); by his children, Jacquie Stern (Eric), Steven Savitz, and Michelle McCormack; by his beloved grandchildren Justin (Chelsey), Daniel, Julia, Ryan, and Dylan; and by his new great-grand daughter, Sofia. Services were held privately at historic West Laurel Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to any of the organizations to which Sam devoted his time and support, or to another not-for-profit of your choosing.

www.westlaurelhill.com