Samuel Kushner

Samuel Robert Kushner

Samuel Robert Kushner, age 29, of San Francisco, died unexpectedly in his sleep on January 27, 2020.

He is survived by his parents Christine Griger and Malcolm Kushner of Sacramento, grandfather Hank Kushner, grandmother Mary Griger, uncle and aunt Bobby and Nancy Griger, aunts Karen Kushner, Kris Nunes and Barbara Nash, uncle and aunt Art and Karen Tamarkin, uncle and aunt Dick Whipple and Carole Tamarkin, first cousins Amanda, Heather and Amy, best friends Julia, Kelsey and Shannon, as well as many other friends, relatives and work colleagues.

Born in Santa Cruz, California, he attended Westlake Elementary School and Pacific Collegiate School where he excelled in art classes and Spanish. While in high school, he worked in the business office of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation/Santa Cruz. He attended the University of California at Santa Cruz, majoring in politics. He received his BA in three years, with honors in his major.

After college, Sam moved to San Francisco and worked in an appliance store. He then took a job at Sutter Pacific Medical foundation as a referral coordinator, where he enjoyed advocating for patients with insurance companies. Sam's next job was as a program coordinator for the Teen Clinic/Eating Disorders Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco.

Sam always enjoyed helping people. During his employment at Sutter Health and UCSF, he realized that he wanted to do that through a career in social work. In order to prepare for that, he enrolled at University of California, Berkeley Extension Program and received a post-baccalaureate certificate in psychology.

Last summer, Sam was accepted in the online Masters of Social Work program at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California. He also made his final job change – becoming a patient care navigator at San Francisco Community Health Center. Together, the classes and job made Sam the happiest he had ever been in his life. In December, he completed his first semester of graduate school with a 4.0 GPA. And he found real joy was helping the clinic's disadvantaged patients with their challenging lives – from shopping to doctor visits to court appearances. He loved his job.

In addition to his artistic talent and deep sense of caring, Sam will be remembered for his dry sense of humor, his love of dogs, and his nearly life-long fascination with sea creatures, especially octopuses.

A celebration of Sam's life will be held in San Francisco in the next several weeks. His parents will provide additional information when available.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the San Francisco Community Health Center, 730 Polk Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94109
https://sfcommunityhealth.org/