Richard Lk. Samsel, Ph.D.

Mr. Richard Lk. Samsel, Ph.D., 70, died Sunday, August 29, 2021 in the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Rahway, New Jersey, surrounded by the love and prayers of his family.

Family and friends are invited to the visitation in the Kowalski Funeral Home, 515 Roselle Street, Linden on Tuesday, September 7^th. from 4:00-8:00PM and Wednesday, September 8^th. from 4:00 - 8:00PM.  On Thursday, September 9^th.  at 8:30AM, everyone will start to gather in the funeral home where a prayer service will begin at 9:00AM, followed by the funeral mass to be offered in St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Roman Catholic Church, Linden at 10:00AM.  The prayers of committal will precede Richard’s burial in the family plot in St. Gertrude Cemetery in Colonia, New Jersey.

Richard, the son of the late Eleanore S. Scesney Samsel (3/24/2005) and the late Walter J. Samsel (12/6/2003) was born in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Elizabeth, New Jersey and Richard was proud of growing up and living his life in Linden, New Jersey.

Richard graduated with a B.A. in History from Rutgers – Newark College of Arts & Sciences.  He was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa; was a Rutgers Scholar and Richard graduated “With High Honors” and “With College Honors”.  He earned his M.P.A. from New York University’s Graduate School of Public Administration, since re-named the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.  There Richard held membership in the “Scholars Seminar” for the highest ranking students at N.Y.U’s Graduate School of Public Administration.  Richard continued to advance his education and he received his Ph.D. in Public Administration from the Graduate School of Arts & Science at New York University (N.Y.U.).

Richard started his work career in 1991 as the Administrative Specialist, Municipal Court Division/New Jersey Superior Court/Union County Vicinage.  In 2001, he became the Training Coordinator for the HR Division/New Jersey Superior Court/Union County Vicinage; a position that he held to the present day.

Richard was proud to be a member of the National Association for Court Management (NACM), Channel Thirteen - WNET, Friends of the New York Public Library, The Metropolitan Museum, the Morgan Museum and the NYU Alumni Association.

In his free time, Richard, known as a hard core sports fan, loved to follow collegiate and professional teams in all sports & he always rooted for the local team.  Richard was an extremely knowledgeable history buff and he enjoyed the field in general, but especially American History.  Richard could always be found on excursions to various historic sites throughout the region.  On the entertainment side of life, Richard made sure to attend every Broadway Show possible.  On two separate occasions, Richard saw every show in a Broadway season.  Museums & their treasures would have him wandering for hours on end & he especially liked it when the museums were highlighting special events that he could attend.  Richard was a man of deep faith; he had many clergy as personal friends and he made it his personal pilgrimage to visit every Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan.  As you can tell, Richard thrived off the energy of New York City & all it had to offer.  He was generous in his life and in his sharing of his impeccable and vast knowledge.  Richard had such a lifelong love of learning, so much so, that his greatest job happiness came when Richard was at the cutting edge of researching and developing a new course and then presenting it in his own unique way that left all the participants enlightened and enthused. 

Richard is survived by his brother, Walter S. Samsel, his two sisters, Frances Kisty and her husband, Kenneth P. and Jane Marie Samsel; his two nieces, Ann Marie Kisty and Jennifer E. Karcich and her husband, Andrew; his great nephew, Luke Karcich, and his many friends, neighbors and co-workers.

Richard was certainly one in a million.  His persona, his zest for life, his infectious passion for education has certainly left his mark on many people.  He will always be remembered!

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.