Sam Levine

Sam Levine, a Livingston resident for the past 17 years, passed away on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at the age of 91.

Sam was born in New York City in 1930. He was raised by his parents, Max and Goldie, along with his younger sister, Esther, on the lower east side of Manhattan. As part of a large extended family, Sam had many aunts, uncles and cousins – most of whom resided nearby. He often spoke about how his cousins were more like siblings growing up.

Sam joined the Army in 1951 and was stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas in the Artillery School. In 1953, after departing the Army, Sam started a business packaging sponges and selling them out of the back seat of a car. The business then grew into distributing houseware and hardware products to the local mom-and-pop stores. As president of Samar Distributors, Inc., Sam guided the company for more than 60 years to become one of the preeminent distributors in the tri-state region. He took great pride that he was able to work with his three sons every day for over 30 years.

Sam met Arlene, the love of his life, at a friend’s wedding. As fate would have it, Arlene was not supposed to be at the wedding, but only attended because one of her parents was ill. They married in 1956 in New York and lived there until they moved the family out to West Orange, New Jersey in 1969.

Sam was a four-time “Jeopardy!” champion and loved to do the New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle every week. He had a great sense of humor and loved to make people laugh. He loved his weekly poker game with his friends and enjoyed watching sports with his sons.

Sam was predeceased by his wife, Arlene, and his son, Larry. He is survived by his sister, Esther (Melvin), his sons, Bruce (Kim) and Jeff (Amy), and his four grandchildren, Scott, Jason, Ethan and Haley.

A private graveside service was held on Friday, January 21, 2022. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Sam’s memory may be made to Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz. org or B’nai Shalom, West Orange, New Jersey, bnaishalom.net.