Henry Schwab, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away on February 26, 2015 at the Heathwood Golden Living Center in Chestnut Hill, MA, at the age of 92.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Anne Schwab of Chestnut Hill, MA; his daughter, Brenda Schwab of Lebanon, New Hampshire; his son, John Schwab and daughter-in-law, Stacy Schwab of Newton, MA; his son, Thomas Schwab and daughter-in-law, Pamela Donegan of Santa Fe, New Mexico; his granddaughter, Rachael Gerber and her husband, Jeremy Horwitz of Arlington, MA; his grandson, Aaron Gerber of Lebanon, New Hampshire; and, his granddaughter, Lauren Schwab of Newton, MA. His father, Martin Schwab and mother, Ruth Schwab, preceeded Henry in death.
Henry was born in Neustadt an der Aisch Germany and fled Nazi persecution to the United States in 1936 at the age of 13. He graduated from high school in Great Neck, New York. During WW II, Henry was assigned to an Army Intelligence Unit comprised primarily of Jewish soldiers, mostly refugees from Nazi Germany, to Camp Ritchie, Maryland—a secret training facility for intelligence officers and interrogators. Their accomplishments, highlighted in the widely shown 2004 film, “The Ritchie Boys,” included helping, planning, and execution of the D-Day invasion, gathering information from enemy prisoners of war, and the uncovering of war crimes. As a non-commissioned intelligence officer, Henry honorably served in Patton’s Third Army, XX Division in France, Belgium, Germany, and Austria.
In June of 1946, in NYC, Henry met Anne Schwab (nee Marx), who was also a Jewish refugee, having escaped from Germany with her family in 1939 and only reaching the US in 1941. They were married in 1948. Also In 1946, Henry began his career as a sales representative with Schmid Brothers, a gift and decorative accessory import firm in Boston and later in Randolph, MA. He worked his entire professional life for Schmid Brothers until retiring in 1990.
One of Henry’s greatest lifelong passions was philately, and he became an international and national award winning researcher and exhibitor of postal history of the Holocaust. In 1992 he published, with the Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum, “The Echoes That Remain—A Postal History of The Holocaust.” He continued to publish numerous articles for philatelic journals, exhibited collected works, and spoke to groups including Facing History and Ourselves of Brookline, MA.
Among so many other things, Henry will be remembered as a soft-spoken gentleman, and for his incredible compassion, kindness, and integrity towards his family, friends and all others with whom he dealt.
Graveside services will be private. A memorial service will be held at a date to be determined later.
In Lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations of remembrance to Facing History and Ourselves, 16 Hurd Rd., Brookline, MA 02445.