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I had the great opportunity to talk to Laura Schwartz Young about a remarkable man, David C. Schwartz, M.D., her father. The Greater Cincinnati area lost a medical icon when Dr. Schwartz passed away in December. Dr. Schwartz’s career made such a difference to the health and wellness of children. He was the second director of cardiology at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital Medical Center and developed a balloon flotation catheter technique for infants and children.

One of Dr. Schwartz’s peers Richard Meyer, M.D. said it best “He was superb clinician – a compassionate, committed doctor to his patients. He was a par excellence teacher to the cardiac fellows and students and even the primary care physicians in town, who loved him dearly.” A cardiac surgeon remembered Dr. Schwartz as an innovator, visionary and one of the best in the country. David Schwartz, M.D. was a committed in his role as physician, father, husband, and teacher and committed to the causes he believed in. He served various leadership roles for over 30 years for the local, state and national American Heart Association, Children’s Heart Association and received many awards.

David Schwartz supported CET (WCET at the time) as a college undergraduate student beginning in 1954 when he really could not afford to support a non-profit organization. At the time, David was putting himself through college and had enjoyed WCET’s programming and realized the importance of public broadcasting as a community resource. As David graduated from college and medical school and then married and became a father of 5, WCET’s programming continued to play an important role to his family who watched many of the educational shows including Sesame Street  and the Electric Company. Dr. Schwartz’s daughter Laura has fond memories of watching Alistair Cooke and enjoying Great Performances shown on CET with her dad. Laura even had a conversation with her father about the recent Ken Burn’s documentary The War and Dr. Schwartz remembered being a young boy during the Second World War. Dr. Schwartz’s interests included collecting antiques so it is not a surprise that one of his favorite shows was the Antiques Roadshow often followed by another favorite program, History Detectives.When Dr. Schwartz passed away, Laura and her family found a letter from CET in her dad’s paperwork, thanking him for being a member every year since 1954. Laura said “we always knew how much he loved PBS but did not know he had supported it for such a long time. This is certainly true to character; once he believed in something, he could always be counted on for support”. What a difference David C. Schwartz, M.D. made in all that he did personally and professionally. He will certainly be missed. -Sue Ellen Stuebing