Obituary IN MEMORY OF
ROBERT
WALTER
SCHWARTZ
Obituary for Robert Walter Schwartz
Robert (Bob) Schwartz
Bob Schwartz, 80, of Chanhassen, Minnesota (formerly from
' `. ��► Green Isle) passed away at his home on Wednesday,
January
8, 2020.
Visitation will be held at Christ Lutheran Church in Eden
Prairie from 9:30-11:00 am on Monday, January 13th with
funeral services following immediately at 11:00 with Pastor
Garrett Alford officiating.
Casket bearers are granddaughters Hannah and Madison Beatty, nephew Mark
Schwartz, niece Kelly (Schwartz) Pierce and friends Lee Groehler and Gerald
Beneke. Interment will be at the Pioneer Cemetery in Chanhassen.
Bob was born on January 21, 1939 in Green Isle Township, Sibley County,
Minnesota, the son of Walter and Dora (Albers) Schwartz. He was baptized and
later confirmed at Zion's Lutheran Church in Green Isle Township. He attended
Zion's Lutheran one-room parochial school for 8 years.
He graduated from Arlington / Green Isle High School in 1957. He then attended
Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, graduating in 1961 with a degree in
Accounting & Business Administration and started working for the Green Giant
Company.
On June 2, 1962 Bob was united in marriage to JoAnn Biermann at St. John's
Lutheran Church, Helen Township by Rev. Bradkey. They shared over 57 years
of marriage together. They were blessed with one daughter, Kristine, her husband
Matt Beatty and two grandchildren Hannah and Madison.
Bob worked for Green Giant / Pillsbury for 32 years, starting in 1961 at
Montgomery, then transferred to Glencoe. In 1963 he transferred to the corporate
offices in LeSueur where he was in finance, planning & analysis and then
Marketing Controller in Minneapolis. In 1974 he became Controller for the
International Division. After the merger with Pillsbury, he became Director of
International Operations and Development.
Most of his traveling was to Europe, where in 1976 he was instrumental in
starting a sweet corn canning plant in the Southwest of France. The plant was
expanded several times and today produces about 6 million cases of canned
sweet corn annually. Working with this and other plants took him to Europe
nearly 80 times. In all, Bob's international work took him to 45 countries.
After retiring from Pillsbury in 1993, Bob consulted to the food industry for
several years, including a project for the US Government (USAid) in Ukraine and
Moldova.
While Bob and JoAnn lived in LeSueur they were members of Grace Lutheran
Church where Bob served on the council as finance chairman. Bob was a
member of the LeSueur Jaycee's and was the Jaycee Regional Chaplin.
Bob was an active member of Christ Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, serving on
the church council as finance chairman for 14 years. He also served as the
general contractor for the church's office addition. Additionally, Bob served on
various other capital project committees and was active with Thrivent Financial
serving on the Carver / Hennepin Chapter board for 12 years.
He was also very interested in genealogy and did research on eight area families.
The Beatty family lives in the area, so he and JoAnn enjoyed attending most of
his grandchildren's sporting events and school activities.
Bob and JoAnn enjoyed traveling many places with friends and the Beatty's—
including Hawaii, river cruises in Europe, visiting the Green Giant plant in
Labatut, France and to Ixtapa, Mexico where they typically spent 6 weeks during
the Minnesota winter. In addition, they spent time in the summer at their cabin
entertaining family and friends.
Bob is survived by his wife JoAnn; daughter Kristine and her husband Matt
Beatty of Eden Prairie; two grandchildren, Hannah and Madison Beatty of Eden
Prairie; brother Victor (Patty) Schwartz of Green Isle; sister-in-law Mavis
Graupmann and brother-in-law Kevin (Nancy) Biermann, both of Green Isle, as
well as many nieces and nephews and many other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Dora Schwartz, father-in-
law and mother-in-law Elmer and Della Biermann and brother-in-law Richard
Graupmann.
Arrangements were made with the support of Huber Funeral Homes in Eden
Prairie. In lieu of flowers, donations are preferred to Southwest Christian High
School, 1981 Bavaria Road, Chaska, MN 55318.
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