The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Dr. Samir Kumar Dutta passed away peacefully on August 22, 2026, at The Bristal Assisted Living Home in Somerset. He was 89 years old, just one day shy of his 90th birthday.
Samir was born in 1936 in Burma (now Myanmar) while his father, Susanta Dutta, was serving on deployment with the Indian military. When he was five years old, as Japanese soldiers invaded the country, his mother and four brothers escaped by boat to Calcutta. He often told stories of the chaos surrounding India’s fight for independence, including his lifelong sadness over the loss of his best friend, who was killed by a British soldier when Samir was eight years old.
Samir excelled in school from an early age and was easily accepted into medical school. He personally wanted to pursue agriculture rather than medicine, but decided to become a doctor to honor his mother’s advice, which he always followed. After completing medical school and two years of general surgery at Calcutta University, he came to the United States for the first time in 1962 by cruise ship to complete a surgical internship in Connecticut. During that first trip, he developed a lifelong love of cruises and travel. From Connecticut, he went to London to continue several more years of surgical training.
In 1967, Samir returned to India for an arranged marriage to his beloved wife, Padmaja Mitra. They returned to England immediately after the marriage, where their first son, Sanjoy, was born. Although he initially planned to return to India, Samir could not stop thinking about the tremendous opportunities available in the United States. In 1968, he decided to move to Brooklyn, New York, where he continued several years of surgical training at Kings County Hospital.
Shortly after his daughter and the joy of his life, Sunita, was born in 1973, he moved to Queens to start his own private practice. He maintained his private surgical practice while also taking trauma calls at several teaching hospitals throughout Queens. He loved to share stories of the many challenging trauma cases he tackled in the middle of the night.
After Padmaja passed away in 2002, Samir continued to practice surgery in Queens. After more than 50 years of operating, he reluctantly retired from surgery in 2014 and eventually moved to Canal Walk in Somerset, where he lived relatively independently and energetically for most of his 80s. He took the time to write his autobiography, “Journey Toward My Destiny,” so that his granddaughters could better understand the life of a first-generation Indian immigrant.
Surgery and family alone were not enough to fulfill Samir’s limitless energy and ambition. He was passionate about improving access to medical care in India and opened and sponsored clinics dedicated to cancer screening and treatment, as well as clinics focused on the treatment of alcoholism. He also worked with Johnson & Johnson to help supply hip-replacement equipment and prosthetics to medical clinics throughout India.
He was deeply involved in his community. He served as president of both the Association of Indians in America and the East Coast Durga Puja Association. Along with two close friends, he started a Bengali school for his children, which grew to include dozens of families over the years. Both he and Padmaja loved singing Rabindra Sangeet. Later in life, he was a founding member of Santiniketan, an Indian retirement community in Florida.
Throughout his life, Samir enjoyed gardening, cooking, singing, and spending time with loved ones. One of his greatest joys was traveling regularly to India to see his parents, his four brothers, and all of their families. Another great joy was talking about life and politics with his many friends. Many of his childhood friends and classmates also came to the United States, and together they formed a strong community and social network that they were able to pass down to their children as well. With family and friends he travelled to many places throughout his life including Canada, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Myanmar.
Samir was predeceased by his beloved wife, Padmaja (Mitra) Dutta, and by his three elder brothers, Bijoy, Maloy, and Sudep Dutta.
He is survived by his daughter, Sunita Dutta; his son, Sanjoy Dutta; his younger brother, Subir Dutta; his grandchildren, Emery Asha Dutta and Olivia Amara Dutta; and his daughter-in-law, Tracey Ireland.
He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, former patients, colleagues, and the many people whose lives he touched through his work, generosity, and friendship.
A formal visitation will be held from 1-5 p.m. August 25 at Gleason Funeral Home, 1360 Hamilton Street.
The funeral ceremony will take place from 1-3 p.m. August 26 at Franklin Memorial Park, 1800 NJ-27, North Brunswick.
Anybody who wishes to view the services via livestream can do so via this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83919156347?pwd=mV6Ylegh3gLB3h1eUyMZqbusvB6vaJ.1
