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Barbara Lucille Hervin Schwab ’41

Barbara Lucille Hervin Schwab ’41, November 14, 2010, in Portland, from complications related to Alzheimer's disease. Barbara attended Reed for two years, and earned a BA from Stanford in social sciences. In 1941, she married Sidney Mayer Jr. ’32, a Reed biology graduate and a physician who died tragically in 1944, leaving Barbara with one son and a second son only a few days away from birth. In 1946, she married Herbert M. Schwab, who became first chief judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals; they had a daughter. Barbara reported that life with her family was a happy and rewarding one. She was a wonderful cook, who created legendary pies, and she enjoyed gardening and creating a beautiful home. Although she was gifted as a painter and sculptor, she passed up opportunities for serious study in favor of family obligations. She was also adept at languages and had a wonderful sense of humor. As a member of the Portland Symphony board, Barbara was instrumental in starting the Young Audiences program. She was active in the League of Women Voters, the Boys & Girls Aid Society, the Parry Center, the American Red Cross, Oregon Health & Science University, and the Oregon Humanities Forum; and while living in Salem, she was active in the Bush Barn Art Center, where she started a children's book collection. At Cannon Beach, where she and Herbert lived for a time in retirement, she volunteered for the Clatsop County Historical Society and helped to found and establish the Cannon Beach History House and the Cannon Beach Arts Association. Barbara worked for a year at Reed in alumni relations and event planning, and kept an active connection to the college and its alumni. Barbara's brother, Jason A. Hervin ’41, also attended Reed, and her lifelong friend was Irma Gevurtz Robbins ’41. “My two years at Reed were two of the most pleasant, stimulating, challenging, and maturing of my life,” she noted. “Reed was where I learned about learning and about thinking and about evaluating. What a privilege to have been exposed to those brilliant, gentle, caring, constantly nudging people who comprised the Reed faculty at that time!” Survivors include three children and two grandchildren. Herbert died in 2005.

Appeared in Reed magazine: June 2011