Patricia Jean Schwarz

Patricia Jean Schwarz
September 23, 1938 - September 15, 2020
Resident of El Cerrito, CA
Pat died unexpectedly of complications in Kaiser's Richmond Hospital while being treated for partial obstruction of the small intestine. She died painlessly in the ICU with her husband of almost 50 years at her side.
Pat, the child of Phyllis and Herman Luken, was raised in San Lorenzo and in 1959 earned a degree in Psychology at UC Berkeley. She worked for 38 years at the California Department of Health Services in Berkeley. Pat started in the Radiological Health division, eventually moving on to the Immunization division.
Her fluency with Spanish medical terms was important for many studies. Pat's language skills had an especially important role in interviews for the epidemiology of infant botulism study. Pat married Charles Schwarz (also UC graduate) in 1971 and raised her 2 children in Albany and El Cerrito. They bought their El Cerrito home in 1973. They enjoyed scuba diving for many years, particularly in Monterey Bay. They also enjoyed their vacations, mostly overseas, on over 70 trips - lastly a 37-day cruise in 2019 around the northern Pacific. Pat and Charles designed and drew plans for a future retirement home at Sea Ranch on the Sonoma Coast near Gualala. They had the shell built in 1983 and spent most weekends over the next 15 years finishing the inside.
Pat was preceded in death by her brother Norman and by her beloved dogs Candy, Nikki, and Katia. She is survived by her much-loved husband Charles, children Chris Siegert and Karen Quintana; by granddaughters Natalia, Sydney, and Anna-Clara; in-laws Angela and Rusty, her brother's widow Dolores and her children Dennis, Dick, and Joanne. Pat also leaves behind 1.5 gallons of "Death by Chocolate" ice cream, many recorded TV mystery stories (especially Inspector Morse, Vera and Father Brown), and Alex Trebek's Jeopardy, and emails on her Dell computer.
There will be no funeral services. Pat's body was cremated by the Trident Society and her ashes scattered at sea off Monterey Bay.


View the online memorial for Patricia Jean Schwarz