For 50 years Walter Schwab ran a uniform company in New York City that his father had founded, but in retirement he pursued his passion for photography and, along with his wife, became part of the East End’s arts community.
He had served as president of the Southampton Artists Association and had been a member of the East Hampton Artists Association and the benefit committee for East End Hospice’s annual Box Art fund-raiser. He focused his photography on the people and cultures of the many countries he and his late wife, Roseanne, visited. His work was exhibited in many galleries and museums, including Guild Hall and the Parrish Art Museum.
Mr. Schwab died at home in Sagaponack on Dec. 15. He was 94.
An only child, he was born in Manhattan on May 1, 1929, to Benjamin Schwab and the former Fay Marmer. He grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn College.
He and his wife were married on Feb. 20, 1949, and settled first in Maplewood, N.J., and later Morris Township, N.J., before moving to Manhattan in 1986. They enjoyed music and the arts and theater in Manhattan, where he and his wife, who was known as Ro, lived for a decade before moving to Sagaponack when he retired in 1996 from the All-Bilt Uniform Company.
“A storyteller quick to inject humor, he found his greatest peace when listening and singing along to the music of his time, especially Sondheim,” his daughter, Caryn Schwab, wrote.
Mr. Schwab’s “journey was anchored” by “his 70-year love affair” with his wife, which “only grew stronger over time,” their daughter said. “His favorite line that he shared over and over” was “never would he have thought a boy from Brooklyn and a girl from Passaic would end up in the Hamptons.”
Mrs. Schwab died in 2019.
His son, Larry, died in 2017, and his granddaughter, Erica Schwab, died earlier this year. He is survived by his daughter, Caryn, and her partner, Scott Lee, who live in New York City and Sagaponack.
She has suggested donations to the Erica Schwab Health and Wellness Fund at the Meeting Place Clubhouse in San Diego, online at themeetingplaceinc.org, or East End Hospice at eeh.org.
