Anne Schwab

Anne (Anneliese Marx) Schwab of Brighton

Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great- grandmother, passed away on December 17, 2015 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at the age of 86.She is survived by her daughter, Brenda Schwab of Lebanon,NH; her son,John Schwab and daughter-in-law, Stacy Schwab of Newton, MA; her son, Thomas Schwab and daughter-in-law, Pamela Donegan of Santa Fe,NM; her granddaughter, Rachael Gerber and her husband, Jeremy Horwitz, of Arlington, MA; her grandson, Aaron Gerber of White River Junction, VT; her granddaughter, Lauren Schwab of Newton,MA; and her great grandson, Elijah Paul Horwitz, of Arlington MA. Anne’s husband, Henry Schwab, preceded her in death. Anne was also preceded in death by her parents, Rudolph and Anna Marx, and by her brother, Eric Marx. Anne was born in Düren Germany and fled Nazi persecution, along with her immediate family, in 1939. While waiting to gain entry into the United States, they were trapped, first in Belgium, then in France, after the Nazi invasion in 1940. After being taken in by a French family, who allowed them to hide in a barn on their farm, they made their way to occupied Paris, and again went into hiding. Finally, they obtained papers allowing them to cross Spain to Lisbon Portugal. Their banana boat converted to passenger ship was among the last vessels of refugees to successfully cross the North Atlantic, reaching NYC in December 1941 just as hostilities commenced between the US and The Axis Powers. Anne completed high school in NYC and worked nights as an international telephone operator for AT&T since she had become fluent in three languages. She met the only love of her life in 1946, Henry Schwab, a returning WW II US Army veteran, and also a refugee who had fled Nazi Germany in 1936 to come to the US. They married in 1948 and soon thereafter moved to the Boston area. They were married for 66 years until Henry’s death in February 2015. Anne’s lifelong passion was her family. The recent birth of her great grandson, Elijah, whom she referred to as, “my dumpling,” was the absolute joy of the last eight months of her life. Anne also treasured her relationships with her grandchildren and many friends and acquaintances. Among so many things, Anne will be remembered as kind and gentle, yet also a strong and courageous woman. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations of remembrance to DoctorsWithoutBorders(Doctorswithoutborders.org) or charities that support refugees.