Rose Lillian Schwartz

September 23, 1924 ~ May 27, 2026 (Age 101)

Rose Lillian (Zubkoff) Schwartz passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by her loved ones in Maumelle, Arkansas on 27 May 2026. She was 101 years old.

She was born on September 23, 1924 in South Bend, Indiana to Isaac and Mary (Kraden) Zubkoff. Her family home was on Chapin Street and she grew up helping her mother in the store on the first floor of her home and her father in scrapping metal and throwing Model T engine blocks up onto a pickup truck. Mom was very strong and feisty; traits she never gave up!! She graduated from South Bend Central High School in the Spring of 1942. She would remind us there were several different graduations for her class as many of the young men volunteered to join the military service and fight for our country and world freedom in World War II. She also reminded us many never came back alive.

Our mother attended a dance at the Notre Dame Navy ROTC unit in 1944 where she met a young Midshipmen going thru officer training. That young officer would continually show up where Mom worked at Robertson’s Department Store on Michigan St. He would also keep calling her at home. Mary Zubkoff would tell our mom, “It’s that boy again,” to which mother would respond, “tell him I am not here!!” Eventually she agreed to go out with him.

When walking Mom home in Spring 1945, our father turned our mother around and asked her to be the mother of his children. Our mother reared back to punch his lights out, and he quickly said “Wait, I am asking you to marry me!!” She stopped, looked at him and said “You’re serious!! The answer for now is no, but if you come back to me after the war is over the answer is yes.”

They did not have many possessions when our father returned in late 1946 from his Naval Service in WWII. They had to get to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska in January for the 1947 Spring semester so our father could finish college. She removed the gold buttons and Officer stripes from his uniform to make his wedding suit. They were married on December 24, 1946 at the Taylor Street Shul at 7 P.M (1900). As our mom walked down the aisle of the synagogue to be married, the bells of St Hedwig rang for Christmas Eve Mass. They really had no honeymoon, but did stop to see a Chicago Black Hawks game with Dad’s twin brother Sol on the way to Omaha. Their wonderful and life-long marriage lasted for over 69 years before our father’s passing on December 30, 2015, just 6 days after their anniversary.

Mom qualified and was chosen to train at the Chicago Opera Company, but instead chose family. She still utilized her soprano voice to sing opera and other genre at churches, synagogues, plays and hospitals. She volunteered for many things, giving her life to service for her family and others.

They moved to Maumelle, Arkansas in May 1980 where she continued her volunteer services and singing, but she always longed for her Indiana home. Now she will be back home.

She is survived by her daughter Sandy Schwartz (Oakton, VA); her son, Gordon M. Schwartz and his wife Roxana (Orange Park, FL) and their daughters, Hannah Maria Schwartz and Juliana Ekaterina Elena Schwartz both residing in Orlando, FL. She is also survived by her son-in-law, John Gaddy (Burlington, NC); nieces Karen Sue (Zubkoff) Perna (Chandler, AZ), Traci M. Zinman (Jim Sweney, Indianapolis, IN), Abby Zinman (Denver, CO), Amber Zinman (Teodoro Rico, North Miami Beach, FL), Tracie Zinman Ibrahim (Philip, Kenosha, WI); nephews Michael (Lisa) Zubkoff (Boston, MA), David Zubkoff (Danvers, MA), Brian Zubkoff (South Bend, IN), Ira Zinman (Bloomington, IN) and Ian Zubkoff (Scottsdale, AZ).

She was predeceased by our father, Benjamin Schwartz (Captain, USNR Ret.); daughter Cheryl Lynn Schwartz (Gaddy); brothers and spouses Louis M. (Helen Richter) Zubkoff and Harold (Birgit) Zubkoff, Rebecca G. Zubkoff (Reuben G. Zinman); and her nephews, Ronald Zubkoff (Morton Grove, IL), Howard Zinman, Jerry Zinman, and Herbert Zinman.

Funeral services will be held at the Hebrew Orthodox Cemetery in Mishawaka, Indiana at 1000 on 31 May 2026.

To share memories or leave condolences please visit www.mcgannhay.com