ALFRED SCHWARTZ

1922 - 2020

SCHWARTZ Alfred Isaiah Schwartz Urban Institute researcher, mentor and friend, Alfred Isaiah Schwartz (age 98) passed away peacefully on October 23, 2020 at The Arbor at Collington in Mitchellville, MD after a decline from Alzheimer's disease. Alfred was born in 1922 in Chicago Illinois, the only child of Morris and Anna Schwartz who came "west" to Chicago with family members from Estonia and Latvia. Al grew up in Benton Harbor, Michigan and attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo before enlisting in the Army for World War II. He served three years in North Africa and Italy from which he sent his hand-painted watercolor postcards to his parents. After the war Al completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in Geography and Sociology at the University of Chicago. He applied this foundation to his lifelong work in systems analysis and operations research. Alfred met his wife Marylyn Lenora Lingott at the University of Chicago in 1946, married in 1948, and moved to Washington, DC. Their first years of marriage were "on the road." Al worked for the US Census Bureau driving with Marylyn across the US to define "urban" and the new phenomenon of "suburban" communities. The road trip ended in 1950 when Marylyn was expecting first child Suzanne. They moved into one of the first prefab Lustron homes manufactured by a former airplane stamping plant. Son Michael arrived two years later. Although much of his life Alfred was a "workaholic," he also had a deep and loving dedication to his family, community, and co-workers. Devoted to his wife Marylyn, Al surveyed the land for the young Davies Memorial Unitarian Church, printed League of Women Voters pamphlets on his Multilith offset printing press, and kept Marylyn's pottery wheel and kilns running smoothly. Their marriage was a source of inspiration and support to many friends and family over the years. Marylyn died in 2012, ten years after they had moved to Collington, a Kendal affiliate in Mitchellville, MD. Throughout his career, Alfred brought together his widely varying interests. An avid photographer, he was a pioneer in the use of aerial photogrammetry to track US demographics. He was an early adopter of computers and later applied these skills to his work with the Department of Defense and the Institute for Defense Analyses. In the mid-1960s Alfred made several trips to Vietnam as a civilian advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His advice: the US should not go there. When Al decided to "study war no more," he joined the newly established Urban Institute where he evaluated programs such as Health Start and Community Policing. His remote sensing expertise was later applied to US-Soviet mutual verification of nuclear capability. Alfred returned to government to work with the US Department of Energy to evaluate the Energy Extension Service and the US Department of Health & Human Services to project the growing health care needs of the US population. In addition to children, Suzanne Lingott Schwartz Gilbert (Timothy A Gilbert) and Michael Richard Schwartz (Merrill Pellows Schwartz), Alfred is blessed to have grandchildren, Michael Gilbert (Molly Gilbert), Anna Gilbert (Ross Feller), and Nick Schwartz. Alfred and Marylyn's legacy will live on through two great-grandchildren expected during Spring 2021. The family wishes to thank the many friends who so enriched Alfred and Marylyn's lives and appreciates the active community they enjoyed at Collington, concluding with end-of-life care at Collington provided by Capital Caring Health. Plans will be made for a virtual remembrance of Alfred's remarkable life. Donations in his honor can be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center www.splc.org and the Seva Foundation www.seva.org