"Carol fell in love with the country and decided she wanted to give back," her husband said.
She organized an exhibit of work by Israeli artist Arona Reiner and donated the exhibit's share of the proceeds to the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
The show was a success and Mrs. Schwartz, who was already selling antiques from her home, began representing Jewish artists. "I'd come home. Chairs would be gone. Art would be gone," Elliot Schwartz said.
After opening the gallery in Chestnut Hill, she continued to represent Israeli artists as well as local, national, and international artists.
A 1964 graduate of Upper Darby High School, Mrs. Schwartz earned an associate's degree from Cazenovia College in New York in 1966. She then taught at a preschool in Center City before becoming an antiques and art dealer.
She and her husband married in 1968. They met on a blind date. "My father and her father were golf buddies and they fixed us up," Elliot Schwartz said.
In 1993, she and her husband purchased a French Normandy-style home in West Mount Airy. "It was her dream house. She loved decorating her home and helping clients with their homes," he said.
The couple also owned a home in Ventnor where she delighted in spending time on the beach with her family, her husband said.
"Carol was just a beautiful, down to earth, unpretentious, loving woman," said Amy Rosenberg, a Ventnor neighbor. "When she was on the block, it just lit up with her spirit and personality. She was a true matriarch. Even with her three grown daughters and all the grandchildren, she still had time to take an interest in me and my daughters," said Rosenberg, an Inquirer staff writer.
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Schwartz is survived by daughters Tammi van Hollander, Wendy Schwartz and Jodi Schwartz-Levy; her parents, Lois and Stanley Elkman; a brother, Stuart Elkman; and seven grandchildren.
A funeral will be at 11 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 4, at Joseph Levine & Sons, 4727 Street Rd., Trevose. Burial will be in Roosevelt Memorial Park, Trevose.
Donations may be made to the Carol Schwartz Fund for Thyroid Cancer Research, checks payable to the Abramson Cancer Center, 3535 Market St., Suite 750, Philadelphia Pa. 19104.
Contact Sally A. Downey at 215-854-2913 or sdowney@phillynews.com.
