Dr. Samantha Mary Karpel wife of Jared B. Katz, mother of Indira Miri Katz Karpel, age 2 and 10 months, younger sister of Elisabeth Boris Alderman, sister-in-law of Philip Alderman, and aunt of Ethan Mercer Alderman, died Sept. 22, 2013. She is the daughter of Jane Boris Brandes and Dr. Stephen Boris , and the stepdaughter of Stanley Brandes. Samantha was a resident of Woodmont in Milford, CT. Samantha grew up in Larchmont, NY, graduating from Mamaroneck High School in 1991 . She attended Vassar College where she majored in anthropology and spent a semester abroad studying in Bali, Indonesia, returning to Vassar in 2011 as part of a panel of anthropology graduates. She was a member of the first comedy performing group at the college, and graduated in 1995 with the Dean's Fellowship in Education. After college, Dr. Karpel taught at the Colegio Americana in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and returned to Ecuador for field work while a student at the Yale School of Public Health, from which she earned an MPH in Global Health. Samantha went on to earn a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University, where she founded the Mind-Body Lab. She joined the staff of the West Haven V.A. Hospital, specializing in pain management, and lectured and authored articles from her research. She also collaborated in a national project combining a psychological approach to the problems associated with tinnitus. Samantha had been a crew member on the environmental schooner "SoundWaters," and was a lifelong supporter of its project. She and her husband Jared moved to Woodmont in 2010, attracted by the neighbourhood and its proximity to the Long Island Sound. Their daughter Indira was "born in the house by the sea." Most recently, as a cancer patient who had inspired the staff of the Smilow Center , Samantha was asked to participate in the Center's art installation celebration , "I Am Here" in May of this year. A ballet dance was performed to honor her "courage and spirit ." When she was asked before surgery if she wanted to walk or ride a gurney to the operating room, she had answered "I'll dance there," and boogied down the hall. Samantha and her daughter Indira, wearing a tutu, joined in to applause. In addition to the constant presence of music and dance in her life, Samantha's daily routine was marked by a broad array of personal commitments and engagements. She expressed a love and appreciation of animals and the natural environment. She enthusiastically embraced her Jewish identity and traditions, and became the repository and transmitter of family history. She was adventuresome, especially in her appreciation of little-known societies and cultures , worldwide. She reached out to all people with whom she came into contact , with equal respect and love . She drew out the best in everyone.
Funeral service at Temple Emanuel, 150 Derby Ave., Orange, CT., Tuesday morning at 11. Interment in the Mishkan Israel Cemetery, Jewell St., New Haven. Shiva will be observed Tuesday (9/24), Saturday (9/28), and Sunday (9/29) from 6:00 – 9:00 pm with Minyan around 7pm