BY GWEN HAYES
Sentinel Editor
The man who brought awareness of prostate cancer to the Tampa Bay community died Sunday of small cell cancer.
Mrs. Lillie Samuels said her husband, Robert (Bob) Samuels, had been having bouts with the aggressive cancer since July. Death came Sunday morning (5:30 a. m.) while he was in the care of LifePath Hospice. Bob was 74 years old.
Samuels retired as Vice President of Manufacturer Hanover’s Corporate Banking and International Sector (JPMorgan Chase) in 1992. He was one of the first Black banking Vice Presidents in the nation.
Within in 2 years after arriving in the area, Samuels was diagnosed with prostate cancer, an ailment he says he was ignorant about, but learned that African American males were more vulnerable to.
He had retired, coming to Tampa to be close to the Caribbean islands, which he visited often. He took a different direction and decided to learn everything he could about prostate cancer.
Not long afterwards, he became the founding chairman of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition and the Florida Prostate Cancer Network. He began organizing health fairs on prostate cancer, initially for Black men, but later to include all men. The health fairs are still being held, now with Moffitt Cancer Center hosting them.
In 1999, Samuels had throat cancer and fought back to the community.
“He touched and saved many lives,” Bobby Bowden would say on the death of Samuels. “He was a great impact on this community,” he continued.
Mrs. Samuels would echo those sentiments, stating that of all the things her husband did, he was most concerned about people and their quality of health. Before coming to Tampa, Samuels organized health fairs in Harlem at the branch bank where he worked.
Samuels has a number of accolades to his credit. He organized the National Association of Urban Bankers, established a bankers’ funding program to contribute to the UNCF (to date more than $50 million has been donated). Although very ill, with the assistance of his wife, Samuels was preparing to speak on December 4th with bankers at Bank of America.
His awards are numerous: a few, wax figure in Baltimore’s Wax Museum; 2002 USA Olympic Torchbearer; and national, state and local honors.
Earlier this year, Samuels released a book, Don’t Tell Me I Can’t, that entails his life.
Funeral services will be held Monday, November 26, 2012, 11 a. m. at Beulah Baptist Institutional Church, where the couple worships. Burial will be at a later date at Arlington Cemetery. Ray Williams Funeral Home is handling services.
In addition to his wife, Samuels is survived by 3 sons, and 3 grandchildren.
