| Samuel Korff's legacy |
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Although neither of the rabbi's sons chose to enter the rabbinate, others in family carried on the religious tradition. Joseph Korff explained:
"My Uncle Nachum encouraged my cousin Ira Korff to become a rabbi and get a variety of degrees. My father took Ira under his wing, and Ira looked up to my father very much. When my father died, Ira became the next Jewish chaplain of the Boston Fire Department and chaplain of the Deer Island Correction facility."
Samuel’s sons, though not rabbis, each made a distinguished mark on society. David Korff became a physicist and Joseph an attorney.
In 1960, David married Harriet Shuman, at the time a chemist, and later a financial advisor. They made their home in a variety of places as David's career went back forth between the private and public sector--Maryland, California, Peabody, Massachusetts and finally they settled in Lexington, Massachusetts. They had four children.
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Harriet and David Korff |
David Korff died suddenly on August 30, 1988 at age 52. He had been a professor of computer science and professor of physics at the University of Lowell, and had achieved worldwide recognition for his contributions to the field of atmospheric light propagation. During the last years of his life, David was the president of North East Research Associates Inc., a group of scientists and computer scientists who analyzed problems in atomic physics, laser physics, nonlinear optics, and atmospheric propagation.
Joseph Korff, the younger son of Samuel and Nesha, is an attorney in New York City. He and his wife Phyllis have a son and daughter.
