H. Samuel Case, who taught human physiology and exercise science at what is now McDaniel College for four decades, died Aug. 22 of complications from leukemia at Carroll Hospice Center's Dove House in Westminster.

The longtime Westminster resident was 70.

"I've been here for two years, but I very quickly came to see how much Sam embodied the essence of McDaniel College. His death is such a painful loss, " said Roger Casey, president of the college.

"In my speeches to prospective students, I tell them that the faculty is not in your life for just four years, but 40. And I got that from observing Sam," he said. "He lived life to the fullest, and his death reminds us of our own mortality and that we only have a short time to make a difference, as Sam did."

"Sam's life is a life worth celebrating. He was a fine human being and totally selfless," said Joan Develin Coley, former McDaniel College president and friend of 40 years.

"When I think of Sam, he led a life that was exemplary and one of service. He never needed or wanted to toot his own horn," she said. "People were just drawn to him. The students loved him and the faculty loved him."

The son of a farmer and an educator, Howard Samuel Case, who never used his first name, was born and raised in Three Bridges, N.J.

After graduating in 1959 from Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, N.J., where he played football and wrestled, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1963 in physical education at what was then Western Maryland College.

"The starting line of his career emerged by accident while he was still an undergraduate at Western Maryland College," said Joyce Muller, associate vice president of communications and marketing at McDaniel.

"He suffered a concussion while playing football in his sophomore year and opted to assist with coaching, and by the time he graduated, had racked up three years of coaching experience," said Ms. Muller.

Go here to see the original:
H. Samuel Case, McDaniel professor