Elwood V. Schwartz

Elwood “ Woody” Schwartz, died on November 22, 2020 while residing at Brethren Village Retirement Community in Lititz, PA, he was 89 years old.

Born July 19, 1931 in Reading, PA, Woody was a graduate of Reading High School class of 1949.

Upon graduating high school he began employment in 1950 in the file and mailroom of Essick & Barr insurance company located in Reading. After 44 years with the company, he retired as CEO in 1994. Throughout his career in the insurance industry Woody had the opportunity to work with various insurance related associations and organizations in executive leadership and advisory roles.

In addition to his professional career, Woody volunteered his time with many local community services and organizations. He served as the Mayor of Adamstown, PA from 1966-1978, served on the East Cocalico Township Planning Committee and was affiliated with St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Adamstown. His greatest love of service was as a volunteer fireman. Woody served as a volunteer fireman for over 35 years in the city of Reading and held every office in the volunteer ranks, including President of the Volunteer Firemen’s Union. After retiring from the Reading Volunteer Fire Department, he served as a volunteer fireman for the Reamstown Fire company starting in 1999.

Elwood married Marian Sprecher on March 17, 1956. They celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary in 2020 and loved spending time together gardening and traveling in their retirement years. Elwood is preceded in death by ten brothers and one sister. He is survived by three children, Susan Klein (Tom), Eliot Schwartz (Lori) and Amy Schwartz (Tim) and three grandchildren. His hobbies included photography, gardening and travel.

Private Interment will take place at the convenience of the family at Bowmansville cemetery. Arrangements have been entrusted with Groff, High and Eckenroth Funeral Home. in lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Reamstown Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 276, Reamstown, PA 17567

The family wishes to express their deepest appreciation to the staff and administration of the Harvest Way North floor, skilled nursing unit, at Brethren Village for their compassionate care provided to Woody these past three years.

The funeral will be live-streamed on November 25th at 2:00pm via www.groffeckenroth.com , click on the photo of Woody to see a link to the live stream.