Sam ROTHSTEIN

ROTHSTEIN, Sam
Sam passed away on July 8, 2014 at the age of 93. He was born on January 12, 1921 in Shenyahova, a village near Bobrysk, Belarus (part of Russia at the time). Sam came to Canada at the age of two. He earned a BA in French and English from UBC in 1939, an MA in French from Berkley in 1940 and was working towards his PhD when WWII began. After serving as a member of the Canadian Counter-Intelligence Unit between 1942 and 1945, he returned to Canada and completed his Bachelor of Library Science at UBC in 1947. Sam worked as a reference librarian at UBC and then he and his wife, Miriam Rothstein (Teitelbaum) travelled to the University of Illinois where he obtained his PhD in Librarianship in 1954, the first Canadian to hold that degree. Sam founded the Faculty of Librarianship at UBC and he served as its first Director from 1970 to 1986. He was internationally recognized for his pioneering work as a reference librarian and he was a leader in developing the discipline of Library Science internationally over four decades. Most of all, Sam was passionate about public service which, for him, was synonymous with public libraries. He served as the president of many public libraries and was instrumental in creating the library at the Vancouver Jewish Community Centre. The only thing that Sam loved more than books, libraries and a great joke was his family. He was predeceased by Miriam, his wife of 67 years, his two brothers, Aser and Maurie and his sisters, Sophie and Reta, all of whom doted on him for reasons they didn't quite understand. Sam's daughters, Linda (Ian), and Sharon (Philippe) and his grandchildren, Matt and Sara, Charlotte and Maddy, were his biggest fans and the source of his greatest pride. Donations in memory of Sam may be made to the Vancouver Public Library Foundation, online or at 350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 6B1. Funeral on Friday, July 11, 2014, at 2 p.m., Beth Israel Cemetery, 1721 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, B.C.