Samuel Paine Sturgis

Samuel P. Sturgis, son of Dr. Cyrus C. and Una Smith Sturgis died on March 11, 2012. He was 89 years old. Born in Boston, MA in 1922, he moved with his family, including brothers Cyrus Jr., and William, to Ann Arbor in 1927, when his father accepted a position as Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Simpson Memorial Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School. Sam graduated from University High school in 1940, in the same class as his future wife, Margaret Ruth McCarthy. Following his service as a Naval Aviator, he and Margaret (Peggy) were married in 1945. They had one son, Samuel Paine Sturgis, III, who is now a resident of Massachusetts. Sam and Peg were divorced in 1975. Peg is still living and resides in Massachusetts near her son, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Sam is survived by his son Sam, grandchildren Katherine Sturgis Donohue and David Sturgis, and Katharine’s children, Bridget Rose, Liam Samuel and Henry Patrick Donohue. Sam, as a 14 month old child, had the distinction of being selected as “prize baby” at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, where his father was Assistant Professor of Medicine. Although he was never able to completely live this down, he was extremely photogenic in his earlier years and the rationale for the selection was clear. Sam was interested in both photography and flying from an early age and attended Rochester Institute of Technology to study professional photography. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve as a flight cadet in the fall of 1942 and was commissioned as Ensign in January, 1944. He served about the newly-commissioned aircraft carrier USS Bennington in the South Pacific and flew numerous missions as photo reconnaissance pilot. As a combat pilot, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medals for his service. In a major air battle near Okinawa, he was credited with downing a Japanese ‘Val’ dive bomber. He remained a pilot in the Naval Reserve until he retired in the early 1950’s. Sam’s interest in photography continued after the war, and he took jobs as portrait photographer first in South Bend, IN, and then at Dey Studio in Ann Arbor. In the mid-1960’s, he received the “Michigan Photographer of the Year” award from the Michigan Association of Professional Photographers. He then opened his own photo studio in Ann Arbor, Sam Sturgis Photographer. He continued in this business until the mid-1980’s when he retired. His interest in photography extended to collecting antique photographs of the Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and surrounding areas. This extensive collection of photographs, compiled with Hazel Proctor, was donated to the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan and is available there as the Sam Sturgis photograph collection.

In his later years, Sam was an active member of the Yankee Air Force and had many friends among the former servicemen and flying enthusiasts there.