Samantha “Sammy” Theresa Mensah passed away on February 22, 2023. She was born in New York City on September 18, 1994 to Elder Cruz and Owusu Asenso Mensah. Her family moved to Weston, Florida where she grew up and was part of Girl Scouts up until grade 12. She graduated from Cypress Bay High School and went on to attend University of Central Florida where she became a McNair Scholar and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry in 2017. While in college, Sammy won numerous academic awards and recognition for her research and patent in Chemistry. She interned in Paris, and at various other companies.

Samantha was a mature person with many great traits. She cared deeply for others and was very good at giving advice. After the George Floyd protests, Sammy co-founded a group BlackInChem to support other Black and Brown people studying Chemistry or other Stem related disciplines.

Sammy spoke several languages including Spanish, English, French and Twi. Prior to her untimely death, she had recently returned from a language scholarship in Ghana, West Africa to learn her father’s native language, Twi. She postponed getting her PhD in order to qualify as a student for the language scholarship. She also helped with a lab at the University of Ghana in Accra.

She excelled academically and was to receive her PhD in June of 2023. Sammy had friends all over the world and will also be remembered for her enthusiasm and love of nature and the environment. She is survived by her mother, Elder Cruz, and siblings Divante, Amanda, Stella, Frank, Maxwell, Grace, Brandon, Brian and Yaw. 

Please also see comments from ICLA

https://www.chemistry.ucla.ed…

Send to someone

Share this obituary with others

https://everloved.com/life-of/samantha-mensah/obituary/

Copy