In Remembrance: Samuel B. Webb ’61, ’63MPH Died on January 7 2024

Samuel Blatchley Webb Jr. died peacefully on his 85th birthday, January 7, 2024. He was a resident of Palm Beach, Florida, and maintained homes in Okatie, South Carolina, and Aspen, Colorado. Sam was born in New York City to Samuel B. and Elizabeth Johnson Webb. His paternal grandparents were J. Watson Webb and Electra Havemeyer Webb and his maternal grandparents were Ford and Elizabeth Johnson, both of New York City. 

In his early years, Sam attended the Buckley School and served as a colonial in chief of the Knickerbocker Greys attached to the Seventh Regiment Armory. Sam then went on to attend Groton School (Massachusetts), graduating in 1957, and, subsequently, Yale University as a member of the Class of 1961. As an undergraduate student, Sam managed the ice hockey team and served as president of the DKE fraternity. Sam then earned his master’s in public health from Yale Medical School (1963) before serving with the US Public Health Service Commission for three years. Upon his honorary discharge, Sam earned his PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles (1970). During his graduate studies, Sam was a member of the academic honor societies Sigma XI and Delta XI at Yale and UCLA, respectively. 

From 1968 to 1982, Sam was a tenured professor at Yale and director of the Yale program in hospital management. His field of research was emergency health service and spinal cord injury, and his list of books and reviewed journal articles was extensive. During 1976–77 he was a visiting professor at the National Spinal Injuries Center in Stoke-Mandeville in Aylesbury, England. In addition, he was a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and the Armed Forces health management program at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. In 1982, Sam moved his family to the multi-generational family farm and property in Shelburne, Vermont, and, from 1982 to 1995, served as assistant to the president at the University of Vermont. 

For many years, Sam was a board member and then president of both the Kingsley Trust Association in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. He was also a long-serving board member at his alma mater, Groton School, and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. At the time of his death, Sam was a member of the Bath & Tennis Club, The Brook, The Piping Rock Club, and The Okeetee Club. 

Sam will always be remembered for his kindness and thoughtfulness of others. He was committed to serving his country, the organizations close to his heart, his friends and his family, and always led by example. He also enjoyed sharing his love of fishing and bird hunting, organizing gatherings of family and friends, and traveling throughout his life. 

Sam is survived by his wife of 37 years, Marshall; his sons Samuel Watson, Edward Wheeler (Catherine), William Vanderbilt (Sarah); and his daughter, M. Samantha Havemeyer (Michael). He is also survived by his eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

—Submitted by the family.