Peggy Fay Schwartz
Peggy (Blumenthal) Schwartz 84, of Thousand Oaks, California; formerly of Palm Desert, California, Albany, New York and Hartford, Connecticut; died April 3rd after battling Alzheimer’s and heart disease. She was the daughter of the late Max and Anna Greenberg Blumenthal. She was also predeceased by her brothers Eliot and Melvin and her adored sister, Phyllis Abrahms. She leaves behind her cherished husband William (Bill) Schwartz after 60 years of marriage, daughter Emily (Schwartz) Tufeld, son Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, and son-in-law, Bruce Tufeld along with her four beloved grandchildren, Jason and Amanda Tufeld and Michael and Daniel Schwartz. She also lovingly leaves nieces and nephews Marc and Sally Abrahms, Max and Caroline (Carney) Blumenthal.
Born August 1, 1927 in Hartford, Connecticut, Peggy was the youngest child of four. She was born after her parents lost their middle child, Eliot. Another family tragedy occurred when her father died when Peggy was only 12. This event led her mother to work full time, running his insurance agency business during the Great Depression. Her siblings were quite a bit older and consequently, Peggy became very independent at a young age. She turned to literature, poetry, writing and music for entertainment and was intelligent beyond her years. She skipped several grades and began her undergraduate studies at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland when she was just 16. After graduating, Peggy worked as a social worker for the city of Hartford and began studying for a Master’s Degree at the University of Connecticut as well as summer courses at Cornell University. Before finishing her studies, she met the love of her life, Bill. They married in March of 1952 and took up residence together in Albany, NY. There, Peggy raised a family and contributed to the community doing volunteer work for new Americans, hospitalized children, Temple Beth Emeth, The Boys and Girls Club of Albany and the United Way. She had a joyous life, many friends and social activities. Always active in politics, in 1980, she came out of retirement to skillfully run the election office for third party presidential candidate, John Anderson. She mobilized the activities of over 200 volunteers, oversaw local media relations and fundraising; making Albany one of Anderson’s most successful turn outs.
After the birth of their two oldest grandchildren, Peggy and Bill started spending more time in California. They had a vacation home in Rancho Mirage and eventually moved to a home in Palm Desert, joined Ironwood Country Club and became permanent California residents. Peggy loved to entertain family and friends, play duplicate bridge and as an avid reader, she would make contributions to her monthly book club meetings.
In 2008, Peggy and Bill moved to University Village in Thousand Oaks.
Her family will remember Peggy’s creativity, charm, wit and smile, her caring and thoughtful nature, her impeccable style, beautiful writing, kind words and meticulous manners. First class and always a lady, she never lost the common touch. Peggy took great pride in her family and their accomplishments and always provided unconditional love. She had great passion for books, Shakespeare, Broadway plays, poetry, art and music. She also had a unique talent of writing “Saturday Night Live” worthy personal lyrics and poems for parties, shows and special occasions. She thought of others much more than she did of herself and although she never drank, her cup was always full. We celebrate her long life, her wonderful marriage and her boundless love and affection for family and friends.
Services will be held at Mount Sinai, Simi Valley on Sunday, April 8 at 2pm.