FEATURE
Changed for the Better...Because We Knew Him the popular soap opera, The Edge of Night, playing a bartender. After giving acting a whirl, he attended Harvard where he received a master’s degree in education. After a stint as head of the Lexington School, Schwab returned home to serve as Country Day’s head of middle school from 1986 until 2006.
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ountry Day lost an icon when beloved member of our community, former middle school head Richard (Dick) Schwab ’67 passed away on March 8, 2021. He leaves a legacy that will not soon be equaled. His life’s motivation was to help others, and he was guided by a song lyric in “For Good” from the musical “Wicked” – “I do believe I have been changed for the better…because I knew you.” “I want to make sure that I can be, for someone else, a person who can make them better because they knew me,” Schwab said in an interview for an article in a 2017 edition of Connections. “I let that song lyric guide me.”
Schwab was named CCDS Middle School Head in 1986, when the new middle school building opened. He did so under the tutelage and guidance of then Middle School Head Dave Walsh, who successfully grew the middle school from 1979-1986, to the point of needing a new building. Schwab watched and listened to students, faculty, and staff for a year before setting out to create a middle school in his own vision, later to become known as “Schwab World.” “He was always on the lookout for teachers who were not only academically excellent but were also passionate about other areas that could have an impact on students and colleagues,” said Theresa Hirschauer, head of middle school. “In 1990, Dick read an article in a Brown University [Dick’s alma mater] magazine where I was featured in a profile about athletics. The article also mentioned my major in math. He talked to then Head of School John Rauschenbush, they gave me a call me, asked me to interview, and hired me. His thoughtful approach to hiring, along with many of his leadership qualities, has
guided my tenure as a middle school head, athletic director, teacher, and coach.” He enlisted the help of Lois Rust, who studied musical theater, and together they instituted the eighth grade musical. Schwab served as executive producer for 19 consecutive musicals, and Rust directs the productions to this day. The first musical was performed in 1988 on the Thesing Middle School Commons’ stage. The first performance, in the then-newly-built John Whitman Keeler Theater, was “Annie,” which opened on January 31, 2001. According to Rust, “It was a great performance by the class of 2005 and stared Mr. Schwab’s dog, Humphrey, as Sandy.” Susie Lewis, former middle school teacher (1985 to 2020), recalls how Dick managed the middle school sleepovers and dances for the entire eighth grade and all of the hilarious stories that ensued. “Dick handled every issue with a sense of humor; he wanted the middle school experience to be remembered fondly by his students and teachers.” Lewis continued, “Dick actually loved it when we came into the office with a problem. He was right there with you. He dropped everything to help figure out what to do. It felt like he loved problems, because he would ‘light up’ at the possibility of making things better, making things right, solving problems, laughing our way through difficult moments.”
After receiving his B.A. in English from Brown University, he went to New York City and ventured into acting. He was on
Former Middle School Head Dick Schwab ’67 on campus with his beloved dogs. 10 | CONNECTIONS
Dick Schwab ’67 received the Virtue In Action Award in 2017.
