Dear Editor,
After a long while taking a hiatus from writing letters to your newspaper, I am sending this letter in these moments of grief and sorrow in order to let the readers be acquainted with a man who passed away on Thursday, 28th July, just a week short of his 72nd birthday.
Dr Sam Ovid Isaacs, an American graduated dentist (New Jersey School of Dentistry) and a specialist in maxillofacial surgery at Harlem Hospital in New York for 19 years, was also a qualified MD (medical doctorate) and earned a Masters degree in Public Health. He worked with me in my office on Charlotte Street for the last 13 years and previous to that, he worked in my office in Brooklyn, NY for 10 years up to1993 ‒ all those years on a consultative part-time basis. ‘Big Sam’, as I called him, was well respected and loved by all my staff and, indeed, by my three children and my wife, and for me, the loss of my good friend has really made me realize that he was not just an associate in our profession, but a big brother in more ways than one.
Brother Sam Ovid Isaacs was, through and through, a patriot of Guyana ‒ the type of patriot who did not seek accolades or mention of his contributions to public service in Guyana; a patriot who did not see race or party politics in his everyday life; a patriot who came home even though he could have stayed in the USA and enjoyed his pensions and health insurance which he worked very hard for over many years; a patriot who always was concerned with the plight of the Guyanese people and proved it in his daily exertions in the health care sector.
Big Sam was a natural educator and he loved teaching different courses in Medicine and Dentistry here at the Dental School, and at an off-shore medical school (AISM) which he piloted and in which he played a leading role for the longest while. He also performed multiple oral surgeries in this country, helping Guyanese from all walks of life. His grasp of clinical medicine and dentistry was awesome, and furthermore, his methods of training young interns were second to none. In fact, Big Sam was very gifted with knowledge about African history, especially North African and Egyptian narratives, and he taught such courses (part-time) in the 1980s and 1990s at Medgar Evers University in Brooklyn, NY. From being a regular policeman in the 1960s in Guyana to his achievements in the USA, is a story of unusual success which Big Sam was always proud of and in which every Guyanese should share in celebrating his life.
Editor, my brother, Sam Ovid Isaacs, was an avowed optimist in Guyana’s future and he put his love of living here above all else, even the comfort zone he created for himself and his family in New York ‒ that is the crucible of patriotism. His big smile and his big heart conjured up among those he was in contact with, a person who cared not about money or titles, but a serious commitment to the health of the Guyanese people ‒ that is the crucible of patriotism. His simplicity and lack of moneyed appearances plus his down-to-earth attitude to regular Guyanese, which I saw firsthand on many occasions, exemplified a man committed to the betterment of his dear country ‒ that is the crucible of patriotism.
Editor, the blow of losing my dear friend and brother leaves me with an empty feeling in my heart, but I know that Big Sam is smiling that big smile and his heart is now beating strongly as he ascends on the wings of angels to God’s own paradise.
God bless you, big brother Sam Ovid Isaacs and rest in peace.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)
