Louis Edward Schwartz

Louis Edward Schwartz, 89, of Cornelius, North Carolina, passed away peacefully on August 28, 2026.

Born on October 15, 1936, in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania, Louis (Lou) was the son of the late Edward Schwartz and Mildred Fields Schwartz.

Lou lived a life marked by hard work, creativity, faith, and devotion to his family. He spent much of his career in the footwear and garment industry, where he earned the respect of colleagues and friends through his dedication and strong work ethic.

Lou lived in Cornelius, NC for over 20 years with Leslie as they were close to her children.

Lou was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Leslie Dineen Schwartz; his son, Louis Schwartz; his parents, Edward and Mildred Schwartz; and his siblings, Anna, Pauline, Edward, and Nancy.

Louis is survived by his children, Mark Harrington Schwartz (Ada), Craig Schwartz (Beth), Todd Harrington (Lisa), Jill Oliver (Craig), and Lisa Williams (Wes); his grandchildren, Damian Harrington Schwartz, Caitlin Harrington, Dakota Harrington, and Samantha Harrington; his sister, Nora; and numerous extended family members and friends.

A faithful member and a Deacon at one point at Centre Presbyterian Church in Mooresville, North Carolina, Louis found strength and fellowship through his faith.

Outside of work, Louis enjoyed photography, coin jewelry making, boating, and travel. He had a creative spirit and an appreciation for life's simple pleasures. Whether capturing special moments through a camera lens, crafting unique jewelry, spending time on the water, or exploring new places, he approached life with curiosity and enthusiasm.

Above all, Louis cherished his family. He was a loving father, husband, grandfather, brother, and friend whose kindness, wisdom, and steady presence touched the lives of many. His legacy of love, hard work, and faith will continue to live on through those who knew and loved him.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7

Louis will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by all whose lives he touched.

In lieu of flowers, donations to North Carolina Wildlife Federation – Great Outdoors University in honor of Louis Schwartz. He volunteered for this camp and truly fell in love helping kids ranging from the ages of 8 to 18.

Or, donate to Levine Cancer Institute Advancement Fund at Atrium Health Foundation (Atrium Health, Levine Cancer Institute) in honor of Louis Schwartz.

Two Celebrations of Life shall be held. One in Cornelius/Moorseville, NC and the second one near Wolmesdorf, PA. Dates TBD

This is our chance now to share his story, as he was well known to tell many tales, both factual and humorous.

Our dad, Louis Edward Schwartz, was never supposed to be born.

Well, at least not according to the story he loved to tell.

Dad was born on October 15, 1936, in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania, just minutes after his twin brother Edward. His parents, Mildred Fields Schwartz and Edward Schwartz, already had three daughters, and after Edward was born, our grandfather was so excited to finally have a son that he ran outside to tell all his friends and neighbors the good news.

While he was celebrating, the doctor informed our grandmother there was another surprise on the way.

A few minutes later, Dad arrived.

The family wasn't prepared to give him another name, so they named him after Dr. Louis Livingood. Thus, Louis Edward Schwartz entered the world, forever sharing a unique bond and a lifetime of stories with his twin brother, Edward Louis Schwartz.

Dad came from humble beginnings that few people today can truly imagine. There was no indoor plumbing. Water was pumped from a well. The family heated their home with a potbelly stove. The bathroom was an outhouse out in the yard. Dad and his twin brother slept in the attic and joked that on cold winter nights they sometimes found creative ways to avoid a trip to the outhouse by opening up the attic window.

He loved telling us about the Christmas when he finally received a bright red “Radio Flyer” wagon. Like any child, he thought it was a toy. His father quickly explained otherwise. The wagon would be used to deliver newspapers and haul vegetables. It wasn't for play.

It was for work.

That lesson became one of the defining principles of his life. Nobody ever outworked our dad.

Growing up, Dad loved sports. He managed to get his varsity letter: a yellow “W” from Womelsdorf High School for playing baseball, soccer, and basketball. Basketball was a challenge considering his twin brother grew to over six feet tall while Dad stood closer to five-foot-seven, but he never let height stop him. He also loved baseball, though he often laughed as he told the story of his powerful throwing arm that once sent a baseball straight through the window of the local grocery store. He would always remind us that he definitely was not the pitcher.

Dad was also the school's photographer and projectionist, and even then, he was fascinated by both photography and technology. Those passions would stay with him for the rest of his life.

As much as Dad loved Womelsdorf, he dreamed of seeing the world.

After high school, he packed a single bag and prepared to leave home. Before he could set out on his adventure, however, Uncle Sam had plans of his own. Dad had to report to Harrisburg for military processing, and his mom asked his brother to drive him there. During his physical examination, Dad was classified 4-F because of an earlier operation and skin graft on his shoulder that made him unable to carry a rifle. To his brother’s disbelief, it was now him who got indoctrinated. He got stuck in the service!

Can you imagine their mother's surprise? It was Louis, not Edward, who came home that day.

Eventually Dad joined the National Guard, but the story of that military induction was not quite finished.

In what could only happen to two brothers named Edward Louis Schwartz and Louis Edward Schwartz, the government somehow mixed up their records. Years passed, decades even, and nobody realized the mistake. When Dad eventually received discharge paperwork, it was actually his brother's honorable discharge.

The mix-up finally came to light after Uncle Edward passed away in 1996. When his wife contacted the government to arrange military honors for his burial, she was told there was only one problem:

According to their records, Edward Schwartz had never served in the military.

As the family worked to unravel the mystery, the truth finally emerged. The government had credited Uncle Edward's military service to Dad all those years earlier, and Dad had unknowingly been carrying his brother's honorable discharge.

Of all the stories Dad told over the years, this one was among the funniest. Imagine serving your country, only to discover decades later that your twin brother got the paperwork. It was the kind of mix-up that seemed impossible, yet somehow made perfect sense in the wonderfully complicated lives of two twins who had surprises since the day they were born.

Years later, he would often recall the day he left home. His father wasn't one for long goodbyes. His mother handed him a handkerchief with a few dollars and some advice that Dad never forgot:

"Sometimes a person shoots higher by aiming for the trunk of the tree than he who shoots for the stars."

As he left on a bus heading to New England, his goal was to be a Forest Ranger. The cost was $7.00. He took off his boot and sock to pay the fee of $7.00. Everyone laughed on the bus, but this is where his mother told him to keep his money. The rest of the way, the ride was quiet.

His final stop was South Paris, Maine. He began working at a logging camp. In a short period of time, he had a knack and skill for swinging from limb to limb with all of the equipment, including a handsaw and chainsaw, hanging from his webbed belt.

This was short-lived as a hurricane came up the coast and did a devastating number on the state of Connecticut. The loggers and other utility companies were summoned to assist in clearing the fallen trees and wires and restore the natural look of the estates located in southern Connecticut.

Lou was one of 6 climbers that arrived on one of these estates. Men in tweed sport coats with clipboards informed the crew they would be making extra money as they were also being paid by the owners of the estate. This was the introduction of being temporarily employed by Bartlett Tree Company.

While working on this estate and trimming the trees to their best appeal without cutting them down, it was on a climb of a pine tree he saw a body of water. His view was of Long Island Sound. He knew then he would not return to South Paris, Maine. Come to find out, the estate was of Mr. Stetson of Stetson Hat Company in Westport, Connecticut. This all occurred within a month of his departure from Wolmelsdorf. Upon working on several estates in town, he was offered a job with the Bartlett Tree Company.

At this point, he hoped to become a tree doctor and continue working for Bartlett Tree Service. When an accident injured his back and ended those plans, he adapted and moved forward, as he always did. He studied architecture at New York University and worked at a small shop called Bill's Smoke Shop.

There he met all kinds of people, including Marilyn Monroe.

More importantly, it was there that he met a young woman named Joan Harrington who regularly came in to order coffee ice cream, the slowest-selling item in the store. Bill Bulakitis, the owner, helped arrange their first date. The rest, as Dad would say, was history.

Over the years, Dad built a career in the footwear industry. That career took him from Massachusetts to Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Canada, and eventually all over the world. Along the way, he became a father to Mark, Craig, Todd. Dad married for the second time to Donna. Together, they had three children: Jill, Lisa, and Louis. Now Dad had six children.

Like many people, Dad faced challenges and setbacks. He experienced business successes and failures, personal triumphs and heartbreak. He once owned a shoe business, only to lose everything when a devastating flood and subsequent bankruptcy left his inventory trapped in a locked department store. Most people would have quit.

Dad simply started over.

Again.

And again.

And again.

That resilience carried him throughout a distinguished career that eventually led him to become Director of Sales for North America for Roots Natural Footwear. The stories we would hear of the cast from the original SNL show and how those cast members would sell shoes at a Trade Show in NYC for Dad and the owners of Roots. Think of John Belushi as a salesperson!

The same determination that had pushed a young boy from Womelsdorf out into the world never left him. Roots was eventually sued over the name and was no longer able to sell in the United States.

There were a few more footwear companies he had managed over the years and ended up in Delaware.

Once again, he and a few other business partners started a footwear company. This was his opportunity to create and design men's and women's footwear. These exclusive items were sold wholesale to major companies in North America. He would travel to Europe and study the latest trends and fashions. Quickly and quietly, he would photograph the shoes being displayed in windows so he could analyze them later on. Of course, he was chased and yelled at on many occasions by the store owners. Europe was always considered ahead of our fashion trends. This enabled him to be inspired and take those designs to factories around the country to produce his line of footwear. After a few years, this company dissolved due to the partnerships.

Dad's travels took him farther than he could have imagined as a young boy collecting coal to put in the potbelly stove. He visited China, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Romania, Haiti, Bermuda, India, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, Portugal, Canada, Italy, Taiwan, Belgium, England, Spain, France, Croatia, Germany, South Africa, Turkey, and many more places. By 2013, he had traveled to over 54 countries.

He stood in China during the Tiananmen Square unrest. He visited Germany at the time the Berlin Wall fell; he even helped bring it down. At age sixty-nine, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and summited the peak. The Sherpas affectionately gave him a nickname, "Babu," meaning the old man of the mountain.

Even at eighty-nine, he was still exploring the world, making a final memorable trip to Istanbul, Turkey.

But despite everything he accomplished, all the countries he visited, all the miles he traveled, the greatest gift of Dad's life arrived in the form of a woman carrying chocolate chip cookies.

During a footwear buying conference, Dad met Leslie Dineen.

At first, she was simply a Treetorn sneaker representative pursuing a large sale. After a long day at the sale, during dinner that evening, she noticed Dad sitting alone and decided to join him. She offered him some of the chocolate chip cookies.

Neither of them knew it at the time, but that simple act would change both of their lives forever.

Dad eventually convinced Leslie to help furnish his apartment with antiques. It took nearly a year before he finally gathered the courage to ask her to marry him.

In August 1996, they were married.

The best chapter of Dad's life had begun.

For nearly thirty years, Leslie was his partner, confidante, best friend, soulmate, and what he often called his "Rock of Gibraltar." Wherever one was, the other was never far behind. They traveled together, boated together, laughed together, and built a life filled with friendship, adventure, and unconditional love.

Family now intertwined with Leslie’s children, Jamie, Peter, and Kristen, into our family as one.

Dad adored photography and became known for several award-winning photos. He also developed a remarkable talent for transforming coins into jewelry, creating bracelets, necklaces, cufflinks, and money clips that were sold in local stores and even featured in a magazine article.

Here are a few examples of companies and positions he held just in the footwear and garment business. Presented in chronological order.

Wilmington Dry Goods/Shoe Corporation of America – Manager of Men’s and Women’s Shoes >District Manager/Regional Manager. CraMar – Owner. Roots Natural Footwear. Woolco. Arnold’s Boot Shop, Inc – General Manager. Richman Gorman. Arnold’s Boot Shop, Inc – General Manager. Tri-Equinox Trading Company – President. Bass, G.H. Bass & Company – Fit, Technical – QC Manager. Triple L. Group LLC / DBA WESTIES Footwear- President. PVH – Quality Auditor – On Call, Logistics Svcs Admin/IAQ Certificate -Jonesville. Providence Products-Director of Sourcing. (Shoe Shoe – Women’s Branded Footwear Buyer – Date unknown).

He always had a creative side to him and created items to sell. Over the years, he would say “Bucks in ducks” and made these handcrafted wood ducks. Then there were the gray basalt stones from Maine he would turn into magnets with special sayings on them. Or he collected vintage swanky swig and sold them in his antique space. Vintage glass juicers were another pursuit. The man never stopped!

We must mention the years and devotion also to the United States Power Squadrons. There are countless Certificates, Honors and Plaques on his office wall. He served as a Commander three times. He was one of two individuals who accomplished this remarkable feat locally.

Most of all, Dad loved being surrounded by family.

In 2022, our family suffered an unimaginable loss when our youngest brother, Louis, passed away. The pain was profound. Dad carried that loss with him every day, but he carried it with strength, supported by Leslie, his siblings, his children, and the family he loved so deeply.

Then in March 2026, Dad lost the love of his life.

Leslie's passing left a hole in his heart that could never be filled.

In his final days, Dad shared a story from childhood. He remembered asking his mother why a woman who used to visit no longer came around. She explained that the woman had died.

"How did she die?" he asked.

His mother replied, "She died of a broken heart."

As a child, Dad never understood what that meant.

Nearly ninety years later, he told us he finally did.

Throughout his life, Dad survived bladder cancer, skin cancer, esophageal cancer, kidney cancer, atrial fibrillation, and countless other health challenges. Time after time he fought back. Time after time he won.

On August 28th at 5:50 PM, Dad died of a broken heart and suffered from stage 4 esophageal cancer.

For all the love, guidance, sacrifice, and strength Dad gave to us, he wanted to be reunited with her.

Dad's journey comes full circle now.

From a small house in Womelsdorf with no electricity and no plumbing, he built a life that took him across the globe. He became a father, husband, brother, uncle, friend, world traveler, salesman, craftsman, photographer, adventurer, and storyteller.

Most importantly, he became our dad.

We will miss his stories. We will miss his laughter. We will miss his advice, his stubborn determination, and the way he never stopped believing tomorrow could be better than today.

We take comfort knowing that he is once again with Leslie, Louie, Edward, his parents, and with all those who went before him.

He will now return home and will be interned in Womelsdorf Pennsylvania.

Rest in peace, Dad.

Thank you for the journey.

Until we meet again, “Be Well.”