BUFFALO, N.Y. — Each week on Sunday Daybreak, we like to shine a light on those Western New Yorkers who have made an impact on their families, friends and communities. This week 2 On Your Side contributor Larry Haneberg pays tribute to Edward Schwartz and his life well lived.
Patty Schwartz talks about her physicist father Edward Schwartz and his invention called Terrain Following Radar.
"In layman's terms, it made airplanes go up over mountains instead of running into them," said Patty Schwartz describing the radar.
Anyone who has flown in an airplane would understand Patty Schwartz's pride in her father's work during his decades-long career at Calspan.
"It's an amazing career to have to be able to say that you worked on all of these different planes and systems within the planes," Patty Schwartz said. "It's amazing to me that someone that I know did that kind of thing."
Quite an addition to being a renowned physicist, Edward Schwartz was also a boating enthusiast and a dad.
"My fondest memories of my dad come with boating and summers spending a lot of time out on the water," Patty Schwartz said.
But having a physicist father can have a downside when it comes to learning about math.
"I would sometimes have problems with my homework in school," Patty Schwartz said. "With his mind he didn't understand why I didn't get what he was trying to teach me. It just came so naturally to him that it was inconceivable to him that I didn't know what he was talking about."
Edward Schwartz was always one to lend a hand to others.
"He was always there to help anyone in need," Patty Schwartz said. "He was always willing and able to help someone with their boat engine, with their electric, with their car problems. He was always there and always willing to give his time to help somebody else."
His well-deserved retirement was filled with travel and fueled by a lifelong love of learning.
"He didn't stop learning when he left college," Patty Schwartz said. "He was always interested in knowing about things."
Edward Schwartz was loved by his family, honored for his inventions, and rewarded in his retirement. He passed away in April after a life well lived.