Richard J Schwartz

Richard Jay “Dick” Schwartz, of Lyford Cay, Nassau, Bahamas and Upper Nyack, NY,

died October 3, 2016 from long-running complications of pancreatic cancer. He was

77 years old.

An inveterate New Yorker, Dick was born in the city on December 29, 1938, the only

son of David Schwartz, founder of the apparel conglomerate Jonathan Logan Dress

Company, and his wife Irene Krugman Schwartz. Dick attended P.S. 6 in Manhattan,

The Riverdale School in the Bronx, and Cornell University. He graduated from Cornell

in 1960.

That year he joined Jonathan Logan and established its successful Butte Knit division.

By 1969 he was CEO and expanded Jonathan Logan to include over 24 divisions, among

them Act III, Bleecker Street, Butte Knit, Etienne Aigner, Harbor Master, Misty Harbor,

London Fog, Junior Accent, Modern Juniors, R & K Originals, Rose Marie Reid, Villager,

Simplicity Patterns, Victoria Creations, and Youth Guild.

At its height Jonathan Logan counted 20,000 retailers as clients, owned dozens of

showrooms, and operated 42 manufacturing plants in the US and abroad. Dick was

instrumental in taking Jonathan Logan public in the 1970’s.

In 1984 the company was taken over by United Merchants and Manufacturing. Dick

resigned to become a private investor, art collector, patron, and philanthropist

through the David Schwartz Foundation, Inc.

Dick’s great passion for American painting, sculpture, and furniture was reflected

both in his collecting and in his support for many American arts institutions.

Over the years Dick served as Life Trustee/Past President of the Smithsonian Museum

Archives of American Art, President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art American Wing

Bryant Fellows, and Vice-Chairman of The Friends Of Arts & Embassies (Washington,

DC).

He also served on the boards of Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Museum, the Buffalo Bill

Historical Center (Cody, WY), Boscobel Restoration (Garrison, NY), Historic Hudson

Valley (Tarrytown, NY), Hudson Valley Greenway Council (Albany, NY), Westchester

(NY) Council for the Arts, the National Museum of American Art, the National Museum

Services Board, the Augustus Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, the New York

Center For Arts Education, as well as The Riverdale School, The Hackley School, The

Chapin School, Fairfield University, and as Trustee of the Phelps Memorial Hospital

(Tarrytown, NY), and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

In 1997 Governor Mario M. Cuomo appointed Dick to the NY State Council on the Arts.

He was later named chairman of NYSCA by Governor George H. Pataki. He held that

post through 2007.

Dick was a longtime benefactor and board member of his alma mater Cornell

University. First appointed to the board in 1989, his gifts to Cornell include the

Richard J. and Sheila W. Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, Schwartz

Auditorium in Rockefeller Hall, the Richard J. Schwartz Directorship of the Johnson

Museum of Art, and the Sheila W. and Richard J. Schwartz Interdisciplinary Oncology

Research Program at Weill Cornell Medical College.

An avid bridge player and fervent golfer, Dick was over the years a member of the

Portland Club (London), the Regency Whist Club, the Knickerbocker Club, the

Harmonie Club, the Century Association, the Purchase Golf Club, Sleepy Hollow

Country Club, Deepdale Golf Club, Century Country Club, where he served as

President, and the Lyford Cay Club (Bahamas) where he lived since 1993 and served on

the board.

Dick’s survivors include his wife of 47 years, Sheila Hunter Wood Schwartz, son John

Stephen Schwartz, of Los Angeles, daughter Jenny and her daughters Phoebe

and Juliet Stone, all of New York City, sister Lois Schwartz Zenkel, of New York and

Greenwich, CT, and other family members.

Friends may call at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel between 5-7pm on Wednesday

October 5, 2016 and services will be held at Temple Emanu-El on Thursday morning

October 6, at 9am. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Sheila W. and Richard J.

Schwartz Interdisciplinary Oncology Research Program at Weill Cornell Medical

College, c/o Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, would be greatly appreciated.

Arrangements under the direction of Frank E. Campbell - The Funeral Chapel, New York, NY.