Remembering Samuel Mitchell

Samuel Howard Mitchell passed away suddenly on August 19, 2017, at the Queensway-Carleton hospital in Ottawa, after a brave battle against multiple health conditions. He was 81 years old. He is survived by his wife Helen Mitchell, his daughters Heloise and Charlotte Mitchell, and his grandchildren Quinn and Ruby.

Sam was educated at the University of Chicago, and began his academic career with the Labor Education Division of Roosevelt University. Later, he joined the Social Science faculty at the University of Chicago, where he was Director of Union Research and Education Projects. He came to Calgary in the late 1960s, and began his work on educational innovations, educational partnerships, and arts education.

Sam was a fixture at the University of Calgary, where he worked for forty years. He authored more than a dozen books on education, and edited many more. Some of his educational innovation books included Innovation and Reform (1990 and 1992), Sociology for Educating (1995), Tidal Waves of School Reform (1996) and Reforming Educators (1998). His lifelong interest in social movements, and his family’s interest in the creative arts, inspired a strong academic interest in partnerships and arts education. He authored Partnerships in Creative Activities Among Schools, Artist, and Professional Organizations (2000), Effective Educational Partnerships (2002), and The Value of Educational Partnerships Worldwide with the Arts, Science, Business and Community Organizations. He retired as a Professor Emeritus in 2007. His last book, a compilation on partnerships that he edited, was published in 2013.

As so much of Sam’s life was in Western Canada, a memorial service will be held near Calgary in August 2018. Parties interested in the memorial service are invited to contact his daughter Charlotte at lottie_mitchell@hotmail.com. Condolences may be sent through his daughter Heloise at ellywelly99@yahoo.com, and his daughter Charlotte at lottie_mitchell@hotmail.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Association.

An avid traveller, he lived up to the image of the wandering Scot that held so much appeal for him. He is missed sorrowfully by his family and friends.