Sam Teitelman was an astute business executive and devoted family man. When his daughter, Mimi Kaplan, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1977, he combined his compassion and business sense to help make her dream come true. In 1981, Mr. Teitelman became the first president of Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization, a support group for patients co-founded by his late daughter. “He really wanted to realize the wishes and dreams of his daughter,” another daughter, Joan Corn, said. “The fact that he was president of a woman’s organization showed a sensitive and compassionate side of the man.” Mr. Teitelman, 95, of Vernon Hills, died of cancer Sunday, Dec. 21, at his daughter’s home in Riverwoods. Born in 1907 in Boswell, Pa., Mr. Teitelman graduated with honors from business school at the University of Chicago in 1930. There he met his wife, Beta. The couple eloped in 1935. She died in 1991. For more than 30 years, Mr. Teitelman did marketing research for Armour and Co., which manufactured consumer products. He was an officer in the American Marketing Association and president of its Chicago chapter. In 1962, he retired from Armour. From 1981 until 1986, he was president of Y-ME, after which he remained on its board of directors. Under his leadership, the organization launched a hot line and won numerous state awards. “He was inspirational because of the way he lived his life,” his daughter, Joan, said. “He was a leader by example.” In addition to his daughter, Mr. Teitelman is survived by another daughter, Lois Fleisher; two brothers, Allen and George; eight grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Services have been held.
