Lois Schwin

Lois Mae Schwin, age 93, passed away at Homewood in Frederick, Maryland on Monday, October 7, 2019.  She had been challenged by Alzheimer’s for many years and lived at Homewood’s Willows Memory Center since April, 2014. The special care given to her by the Homewood Staff and Carroll Hospice Care are greatly appreciated.

Lois was the wife of Lawrence Schwin, Jr. who predeceased her in 1992. In 1995, she moved to Frederick to be closer to her daughter and family. Her survivors include her daughter, Joan Schwin Maples (Allen Quynn) of Frederick, her son Lawrence, III  (Edward C. Connolly) of Palm Springs, CA and her two beloved grandchildren: Lawrence Quynn Maples of Frederick and Lois Motter Maples Gaul (Jay) of Washington, D.C..

Lois was born in Linden, NJ in 1926 and was the youngest of three children. Her parents, Nicholas H. and Augusta Emma Stefanow moved their family to Teaneck, NJ in 1930. She graduated from Teaneck High School in 1943 during the difficult years of World War II while her brother Bob was with the Marines in the Pacific.
Long active in the Presbyterian Church, Lois served as an Elder for many years. She was a Sunday school teacher and Superintendent as well as the Junior Choir leader. Raised in the Lutheran Church of her mother’s German family as a child, Lois credited her mother’s deep, quiet faith as one of the most definitive touchstones of her own life. At the time of her death, she was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Westfield, New Jersey.

Lois will be especially remembered for her warm and kind personality, her sparkling laugh, her love and commitment to her late husband and family, her drive to take on many difficult tasks and her strong faith.  For many years her husband was New Jersey’s largest commercial grower of leek, with over twenty-five or more acres in production and she ably partnered him in that work. She had many friends, enjoyed travel with her husband, was a superb seamstress and an excellent cook, baker and candy maker, talents that she learned from both of her parents.

A Memorial Service in Celebration of Life will be held at the Margaretta Slayman Chapel at Homewood at Crumland Farms in Frederick, Maryland at a date to be determined. Her ashes will be interred at the Colonial Cemetery of the Presbyterian Church in Westfield, NJ alongside of those of her husband, other family members and dear friends.

If desired, donations may be made in Lois’ memory to the Homewood Foundation Benevolent Fund, 7407 Willow Road, Frederick, MD 21702, to the Alzheimer’s Foundation or to The Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ, Building Fund, 15 West Church Street, Frederick, MD 21701 or to an organization of your choosing.