Memorial for

Erich Schweitzer

Erich was my Dad.  Born in 1908, he was raised in Austria and put himself through junior College and the University, earning 2 PhD's, one in Mathematics and one in Physics (was a Master Student of Albert Einstein).

He came to the USA in 1938 or thereabouts and soon after, met my mother.

Erich Schweitzer worked as an engineer for many years and then, the last 5 years of his life, had his dream job as a physicist.

In his 20's he had been a bodybuilder and also a national chess champion. 

He had a great sense of humor, was extremely clever and before he lost his hearing, liked to play the harmonica by ear.  He loved photography and used Leika and Canon 35mm cameras.  He always carried a camera with him, something I have done most of my adult life.  (you never know when a photo op will happen). The photo above was taken in 1954 of me and my father.  He naturally had his camera with him!

Our son, Erich, is named after him.

Because of my mother's psychological issues, my father and I never were able to be as close as I would have liked.  His loss of hearing in his autumn years also made it difficult to communicate with him.  And he, like many men, had a hard time communicating his deeper feelings to those he loved especially his children.  It was my plan that after my mother passed, we would reach out to Dad and try to establish the relationship we were never allowed to have but as God's Plan went, he was the first one to be called Home to the Lord.

In 1971, Erich Schweitzer, a lifelong smoker, died suddenly of a heart attack.  He was 63 years old.  Had his heart attack occurred NOW, they probably would have been able to save his life with CABG surgery.

Dad always had wanted a son and we thought when our son was born, Dad would have really enjoyed him, especially as he was a namesake but Dad did not survive to see our son much older than 18 months.

The photo (above) was taken in 1970, his last Christmas with us.

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