Hank (Henry Lee) Schwartz

Hank Schwartz passed away on February 8, 2025, after a short illness and a long life of music, inventions, collections, travel, food, family, and friends. Originally from New York, Hank spent happy years in California, Maryland, Holland, and Missouri—the last with his beloved partner, Mollie Smith.

Hank could play any instrument you handed him, but his lifelong love was the banjo, and one of his legacies is his extensive research into Fairbanks banjos. He is known worldwide for his contributions to banjo music and scholarship, having appeared on Elektra Records “Old Time Banjo Project” and recorded his own album, “Notes Along the Way”.

After obtaining a doctorate in physics from NYU, he conducted research in molecular beams before becoming a licensed mechanical engineer, and obtained 19 patents for medical ultrasound, laser devices, robotic chemical analyzers, and more.

Hank practiced meditation, used his skiing machine every day even though he hated it, and was a collector of knives, crystals, and seashells, among other things.

He was the proud father of Kendra Schwartz Poster and Adam Schwartz and father-in-law to Michael Poster and Karen Schwartz, and took great delight in his grandchildren, Avery and Logan Poster and Sarah and Emily Schwartz.