Dr. Dorit Samuel

Dr. Dorit Samuel was born during one of the biggest snowstorms in the country’s history. She would then spend the rest of her life pointing out this fact as evidence that her life was always destined to be a struggle. She inherited a love of music from her father and began to take piano lessons at age four and performing by the age of seven. At age ten, she escaped Romania in the middle of the night with her mother, claiming refugee status in Vienna, before continuing on to Italy and eventually, Israel. She did not see her father again until a covert operation, led by a friend of Dorit, succeeded to sneak him out to Israel as well. After high school at the prestigious Tel Aviv performing arts school, Dorit was drafted into the military doing top intelligence work and ultimately fought in the Yom Kippur War.

When the war ended, Dorit turned her focus to obtaining her first (of two) PhD in music in America and attended the University of Minnesota, where she met her dear friend and piano teacher Bernard Weiser. It was in Minneapolis that Dorit would meet her husband, Sheldon Halpern. They became fast friends and were popular dinner guests as a duo that would entertain the party with their banter. They soon began dating, had an incredibly strong connection and the same sense of humor. Everyone around them could instantly see it whenever they were together: they just got each other. They had an intimate wedding with their closest friends and family in attendance. It was a very fun night, surrounded by their loved ones.

Their daughter Michaela was born and instantly became the guiding star of their universe. They explored the world with her, living in places like Columbus, Cupertino, Philadelphia, Provence, Florence, Edinburgh, and London. Dorit spent her final years in Israel and Boston, where she was able to watch her granddaughter grow up. She passed peacefully in Boston, with her daughter by her side.

Dorit was a bold person who lived life adventurously, the kind of woman you could know for 20 years before finding out that she trained as a pilot in her 20s and could fly an airplane. She had an incredibly sharp mind and an even keener judge of character, loving those close to her fiercely and loudly. She leaves behind a village of friends across the world, all whom she made feel like family.

She is survived by her daughter Michaela, her son-in-law Guy Bracha Tchernichovsky, and her granddaughter Shelly.

A private family graveside service has been held. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made in Dorit’s name to encourage music education, particularly the Caroga Arts Collective https://carogaarts.org/ or the Chamber Music Connection https://www.chambermusicconnection.org/