Kathryn Carlisle Schwartz

DELAWARE — Kathryn Carlisle Schwartz, age 92, died peacefully in the presence of family at Willow Brook at Delaware Run on Sunday, March 3, 2019. She was born November 17, 1926 in Biltmore, North Carolina and grew up in Miami, Florida and Denver, Colorado. Kathryn was a professor of English at Ohio Wesleyan University and will also be remembered for her leadership in the League of Women Voters of Delaware County, of which she was president for 7 years and co-president for 4 more.

After attending Black Mountain College for a year, she graduated from Bard College in 1947 with a B.A in English and a minor in music. She earned an M.A. in English in 1967 and a Ph.D. in English in 1976 at The Ohio State University.

July 5, 1947 she married Paul Schwartz, who was Professor of Music at Bard College (1938-47). They lived in Gambier, Ohio from 1947-1986, where Paul was Professor of Music at Kenyon College. From 1950-56 they presented annual duo-piano concert-lecture tours across the country for the American College Association.

Kathryn had numerous ad hoc work experiences in Gambier, including teaching music privately, in the public schools and at Kenyon College, as well as teaching English at The Ohio State University and Kenyon College. She engaged in community activities in which she held leadership positions, including the Gambier League of Women Voters, the Beethoven Club, the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs, the Knox County Symphony and Save the Children Federation.

In 1978 Kathryn joined Ohio Wesleyan University as a teacher of English composition and moved to Delaware in 1986, retiring as full professor of English in 1993. From 1984 she served as Director of Freshman Composition, working with over 4,000 students. She also surveyed the writing programs throughout the Great Lakes Colleges Association to the benefit of all the Colleges' English Departments. In 1984-88 she led intensive composition seminars for high school teachers. For ten years she taught courses on Perspectives on Women in Literature. Scholarly activity included papers, reviews, and conferences. Her major publication was Baptist Faith in Action: The Private Writings of Maria Baker Taylor (1813-1895), University of South Carolina Press (2003).

In Delaware Kathryn did community service on the Delaware City Charter Review Commission, Community Impact Team of the United Way, and Central Ohio Symphony Trustees. She was an active member of the Delaware County Democratic Party. A major dedication was to the League of Women Voters of Delaware County.

In 1999 Kathryn was preceded in death by her husband, Paul after 52 years of marriage. In 2018, she mourned the death of her middle daughter, Isabel Lopatin.

She is survived by beloved daughters, Angela and Julia Schwartz, who live in Switzerland, two dear grandchildren, Serena and Alma Kunzler, nephew John Alch and his daughter Miranda Alch of Columbus, and her sons-in-law Shepherd Mead, Christoph Kunzler and Arthur Lopatin.

Memorial in the Summit Room, (3rd floor), Willow Brook at Delaware Run, 100 Delaware Crossing West, Delaware, on Sunday, April 14th, 3:00-5:00 pm.

Contributions in Kathryn's memory can be made to:

Central Ohio Symphony

P.O. Box 619

Delaware, Ohio 43015

League of Women Voters of Delaware County

4477 Chapman Rd.

Delaware, OH 43015

Population Connection

2120 L Street NW, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20037

Condolences may be sent to Angela Schwartz Mead and Julia Schwartz Kunzler at acschwartz@solnet.ch and j.schwartz@bluewin.ch.