Virginia Schatz

Virginia Margaret Bogert Schatz died on November 28, 2010, in North Branford, CT. Born December 23, 1928, in Englewood, NJ, she was the youngest daughter of Louise Christine Laue and Daniel Gilliam Bogert. A graduate of Englewood public schools and a 1950 Smith College alumna with a degree in French and chemistry, she went on to become one of the first women to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry at Brown University, earning her doctorate in 1955. While at Brown, she married classmate Paul Namon Schatz, a Philadelphia native and University of Pennsylvania alumnus. Eventually they settled in Charlottesville, VA, where they lived at 1602 Jamestown Drive for nearly 50 years before moving to Connecticut in 2007.

With generosity, gusto, and good humor, Mrs. Schatz raised three accomplished sons, ran her busy household, and supported her husband’s career as a professor of chemistry. Along the way, she became active in civic life, serving on Charlottesville’s School Board, City Planning Commission (as vice-chair and its first-ever female chair), League of Women Voters, and Democratic Committee. She kept a hand in science, conducting postdoctoral research at the University of Virginia in the surgery and biology departments. She was also an avid amateur archaeologist, horsewoman, and opera buff.

Mrs. Schatz spent many happy hours at Lazy Days, the Bogert (and later, Schatz) family’s cottage on Fire Island, where she gamely welcomed family and friends, cooked historic chicken dinners, conquered old-house problems from lumpy horsehair mattresses to cold-water-only plumbing, gave new meaning in retirement to the term “late breakfast,” fervently pored over New York Times national and international news, triumphantly plucked splinters from several generations of children’s feet, and, after re-reading one of Tolkien’s tales for the nth time, occasionally snatched a well-deserved nap on the front-porch swing.

In addition to her husband Paul and sister Elizabeth, she leaves her children David Gilliam Schatz (Susan Papa) of New Haven, CT; Peter Joseph Schatz (Leilani Miller) of Cupertino, CA; and Jonathan Harry Schatz (Mary), of New York, NY. “Grandma Ginny” also leaves six grandchildren: Annakate and Claudia of New Haven; Daniel and Andrew of Cupertino; and Paul and Madeline of New York. Her extended family was also dear to her, particularly her sisters- and brothers-in-law and their children and grandchildren. She was predeceased by her parents and her sisters Mary Louise, Jean, and Nancy.

A memorial service and reception will be held in the auditorium at Evergreen Woods, 88 Notch Hill Rd., North Branford, CT, on December 11 at 2 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the Ocean Beach Community Fund (P.O. Box 23, Ocean Beach, NY 11770, www.villageofoceanbeach.org); the League of Women Voters of Charlottesville/Albemarle (1932 Arlington Blvd., Rm. 111, Charlottesville, VA 22903, lwv.avenue.org); or the Alzheimer’s Association (P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090-6011, www.alz.org).

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