Mildred P. Schwartz

Mimi Schwartz was a Bronx girl, but love took her 100 miles south, to Philadelphia, where she would build a remarkable life and family over the next 71 years.

                She died Dec. 19 at the Rose Gardens nursing facility of Ann’s Choice in Warminster. She was 93.

                Mildred Phyllis Pasternak was born on Nov. 16, 1930. Her father, Max, sold smoked fish; her mother, Esther, was a homemaker. They raised their five children in apartments in the Mosholu Parkway area of New York’s northern-most borough.

Mimi (and it was almost always Mimi – she was less than fond of her given name, and truly disliked her middle name) attended Evander Childs High School. She earned a commercial diploma, and was hired as a secretary at Lehman Brothers, the financial firm where her sister Lynne already worked.

In 1952, she married Larry Schwartz, a Navy veteran who was starting a business career. They had met at a resort in the Poconos; she would always say that Larry was different, that he made her laugh. And he could not help but be taken by the ease of her laughter, by her black hair and brown eyes.

They would say in later years that the Schwartzes thought the Pasternaks were well to do, and vice versa – the Schwartzes because the Pasternaks lived in a New York City apartment, the Pasternaks because the Schwartzes lived in a house in Germantown. They were all mistaken.

They drove to Miami Beach for their honeymoon and then set up housekeeping in North Philadelphia. They would remain in the area for the rest of their lives, moving first to Roslyn, then Willow Grove, then Huntington Valley, and finally Ann’s Choice in Warminster.

Mimi often said that she did not know how to boil water when she married – that Esther would not allow her daughters in the kitchen – but Larry taught her the rudiments. She became a fine cook and baker, renowned for her meatballs, her chicken soup, her chocolate cake and the pies she would make from cherries picked from the tree in the yard of the Willow Grove house.

As a mother of three, she was both loving and formidable. She was always a room mother, always a scout volunteer. She had opinions, and was never shy about sharing them with her children.

Money was tight, and with college tuitions looming, Mimi reentered the workforce. She first went to work as an Avon lady. When that did not go well, she rejoined the secretarial ranks at William H. Rorer Inc. in Fort Washington. She was there for more than two decades; she was an excellent secretary.

Mimi loved traveling, especially with niece and nephew Leane and Gerald Huchital. She was always up for a game of mah jongg. She enjoyed volunteering at the sisterhood shop at Old York Road Temple-Beth Am, and later at the Treasure Chest at Ann’s Choice. She laughed a lot, generally with her husband, her favorite comic. (She once told her daughters how much she loved the Al Stewart song “The Year of the Cow.” Except that the song was “The Year of the Cat.” She – and they – chortled for years.)

And she was fiercely, fiercely devoted to family. When Larry’s mother died, she readily agreed to take in his father; he lived with them for 10 years. Their house was a central gathering place -- as many as three dozen Schwartzes and Pasternaks would come for Thanksgiving. Mimi orchestrated it all.

  Larry, the love of her life, died in 2020. She was also predeceased by her siblings, Harold Pasternak, Sydel Faigin, Lynne Zucker and Jerry Pasternak, her beloved baby brother and childhood playmate.

And by her daughter Nancy Van Ness; the sorrow of her death last year pierced the fog of her growing dementia.

She is survived by son Jerry Schwartz (and Nina Ovryn), of Westfield, N.J.; son-in-law Billy Van Ness, of Doylestown; and daughter Laura Angler (and Joel Angler) of Feasterville.

Also, her beloved grandchildren, to whom she will always be Grammy: Rachel Brunner (and Zach Brunner), Danny Schwartz (and Heather Williamson), Daisy Van Ball (and Dave Van Ball), Josh Schwartz (and Jeannette Sharpless) and Benjamin Schwartz. And great granddaughters Van Brunner, Thea Brunner and Phoebe Lark Schwartz.

Relatives and friends are invited to arrive Tuesday December 26 beginning at 1 PM at Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael Sacks Suburban North, 310 2nd Street Pike Southampton, PA 18966.   The funeral service will begin at 1:30 P.M. Burial to follow at Shalom Memorial Park.

Contributions in her memory may be made to the charity of your choice.