Sam Kahn was a man who lived “the big bang” – the good life. Speaker after speaker who paid tribute to his memory at Congregation Beth Am last Thursday said he was a man with a smile, a hug and a big song.
The founder of Kahn’s Corner Pharmacy, Mr. Kahn died July 22 at his residence after a short illness. He was 88.
When Main Street, Los Altos still had hitching posts, Kahn, a San Francisco native, purchased the J and S Pharmacy at the corner of First and Main Streets. He had been a pharmacist at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco and, with his wife Annette, wanted to get away from the city to go into business for himself. The year was 1939.
As Los Altos grew from a little country town, Kahn’s Corner Pharmacy also grew. Kahn’s business ethics and integrity won trust and love from his customers and from his employees.
“There were other drugstores around, but when I needed a prescription filled in the middle of the night, I would call Sam Kahn because I knew he would get up and fill it,” said Dr. Benson McGann, well-known Los Altos physician.
When Dushan Angius came to town as coach at Los Altos High School, one of the first people he met was Sam Kahn. They were still tearing out the apricot trees to build the high school when he met Kahn, and the impact of that meeting left its influence on him.
“There is a chemistry that can grow between families, and we were attracted to the Kahns,” Angius said. “He was always supportive of Los Altos High School. It was his school. He always focused on the sports program.”
Steve Anderson, Los Altos optometrist, said Kahn’s first love was the Rotary Club.
“He would always sing and the song was usually ‘Smile.’ He was the Rotary ‘Man of the Year’ in 1979,” Anderson said. “He was our ace song leader.”
Kahn belonged to the Los Altos Rotary Club for 48 years. He was also one of the original members of the Los Altos Village Association, a strong supporter of the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce, and one of the founding members of Congregation Beth Am.
“He had a vision of the future and believed in placing the long term ahead of him,” said Rabbi Richard A. Block. “This beautiful piece of property, where Congregation Beth Am is today, is a heritage of his service to the community.
“Life wasn’t easy in 1939, and it was a difficult choice. But Annette, his late wife, wanted to move out of the city. Sam’s life in Los Altos is a role model that instituted a sense of community. As a visionary, family man, businessman, Rotarian and community man, we will miss him,” Block said.
“There are other people who are referred to as ‘Mr. Los Altos,’ but I think Sam Kahn was the real ‘Mr. Los Altos,’ ” Anderson said.
Mr. Kahn is survived by his two sons, Mel Kahn of Los Altos and Bruce Kahn of Strongville, Ohio; and grandchildren Matthew, Brandon, Angela, Adam, and Rebecca Kahn.
The family prefers donations be made to the Annette and Sam Kahn Family Programs Fund at Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Alos Hills, 94022, or the Los Altos Rotary Endowment Fund, P.O. Box, 794, Los Altos 94023.
