Florence Lucia Samperi

Dear friends, family and cherished colleagues, today, we gather not in the shadow of loss, but in the enduring light Florence Samperi cast upon our community. The youngest of five children of a Sicilian immigrant family - she came from humble beginnings and high aspirations. At age 11, those aspirations were challenged by the untimely death of her father. Early, she learned that despite limited resources whatever there was, was to be shared. This ethos, carried her through the rest of her life. While the family struggled, Florence prevailed - she continued living their hardships while committing her to education beyond the family's expectations and means. Florence never forgot that it was her mother, who made her higher education dream possible by cashing in the mother's thousand dollar life insurance policy. Uncharacteristically, Florence who never accepted, accepted her mother's gift. As she advanced professionally and over her lifetime Florence found many ways to repay her mother's gift.
Florence's love extended beyond her immediate family - to the families of Larraine Ahto with whom she shared a long friendship. The two, were aunts and godparents and strongly influenced the lives of multiple nieces, nephews, godchildren and friends who all hold very fond memories; she was aunt Florence to many. They have countless stories and memories of shared adventures with aunt Florence - trips to Cape Cod, to Puerto Rico, to Europe, the theater and the opera.
Florence was a graduate of Boston University and went on to the doctoral program at the Columbia University School of Social Work; She became more than a therapist, a Milan trained family clinician, an adjunction professor at the Hunter School of Social Work and a brilliant theoretician. Florence trained and mentored generations of therapists who have gone on to positions of distinction of their own. In her role as co-director of Henry Street's Community Consultation, Florence was a quiet but dynamic force of transformation – a bridge between need and hope for countless lives on the Lower East Side. With Larraine as Director, she turned the settlement's mission into lived reality, offering counsel, compassion, and clarity to those navigating the storms of daily struggle.
Florence embodied the spirit of Henry Street's founder, Lillian Wald: A healer's heart and a reformer's hands. She listened deeply, acted decisively, and believed fiercely that every voice deserved to be heard, every dream given wings. Through her immigrant's found footing, families mended fractures and youth glimpsed brighter tomorrows. Her legacy isn't in grand monuments, but in the quiet victories- the job secured, the crisis averted, the spark of resilience ignited.
Florence reminds us that "the work continues because the people endure". And so it will, through the programs she championed and the souls she uplifted. We mourn the woman who wove our community tighter but we celebrate the eternal thread she leaves behind.
Rest now, Florence, in the peace you so generously gave. The doors of opportunity remain wide opened.
With deepest gratitude,
Rest in Peace and Power!
In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to Henry Street Settlement and/or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in memory of Florence.