Mount Pleasant Magazine May/June 2018

67 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.BestOfMP.com feature Mark Schwarb John Schwarb and Jenny Schwarb Rickard – Nominators Relationships: Father, daughter, son Mount Pleasant We grew up in fairly typical suburban fashion, with a dad who worked and a mom who stayed at home with us. Our dad, Mark Schwarb, worked really hard to provide for his family of five and made sure we always had the best of everything as kids, especially the best education and access to as many extracurricular activities as we could handle. He was a salesman and traveled five days a week when we were younger; we all knew he was sacrificing time with his family in order to provide a great present and future for us. He modeled a strong work ethic for his children and made sure we all had jobs as soon as we were old enough to legally earn a paycheck. He worked tirelessly outside the home while our mom, Franne, worked tirelessly inside the home to make sure we were always well-fed, meticulously dressed and extremely well-mannered, and our home was always a warm, happy place where everyone was welcome. We will never downplay her hand in raising a wonderful family, but Dad… … Ultimately, once we were all older and Mom became a Realtor and went to work outside the home, Dad picked up the slack at home. He took over household errands, handled the books for Mom’s real estate business and generally kept the household running, all without a word of complaint. As we kids got older, we grew closer to our dad and made up for lost time. He came to visit the two of us at our respective colleges, then came to visit us and our respective families as we moved away and had his grandchildren. While our mom and the two of us always knew he was there for us whenever we needed him, his top priority was always to take care of and encourage our brother Jeremy, who has special needs. Dad was always Jeremy’s number one fan, encouraging him and making sure he knew he could do anything he set his mind to. He advocated for him when it was needed, but mainly he coached from the sidelines and watched as Jeremy blossomed. Dad also made sure to expose Jeremy to more than our suburban existence. He would take him on trips – some long and some just long weekends – to see the U.S.A. Dad and Jeremy visited Miami, Boston, Milwaukee, Chicago, Seattle and many places in between. As a family, we went to London and Paris – Dad knew we’d make it overseas on our own as we got older, but he wanted to make sure Jeremy was exposed to diverse experiences, too. When Jeremy was invited to celebrate his 20th anniversary at a gala hosted by Publix, his longtime employer, it was a no-brainer – he wanted our dad to be his plus one. Dad more than made up for lost time in recent years. In addition to his regular travels with Jeremy, he would travel to the Midwest to visit his grandchildren whenever he could. He spent many hours on the golf course with his oldest son, pursuing their shared passion. He took Mom on trips of a lifetime, including to Italy, an Alaskan cruise and more trips to fabulous places around the country than we can count. Dad died on Sept. 28, 2017, after a short battle with lymphoma. Battle he did – he fought the disease as best he could because he wanted to continue to make up for lost time, and he wanted to watch his grandchildren grow up, but in our hearts and minds, he’d already more than made up for that so-called lost time. He showed us all how to work hard, enjoy life and appreciate what really matters: family. We all have a void in our hearts that will never be filled, but our lives will forever be enriched by all the values he instilled in us and the love he shared.