Jeanne Schimmel

Jeanne F. Schimmel, 94, died May 10, 2022, in Black Mountain, NC. Born in Pittsburgh PA in 1928, she married her college crush in 1950 and had their children in Pittsburgh before moving to Island Park, NY in 1958. In 1987 she moved to Hobe Sound, FL from Island Park with her husband Donald. In 2018 she moved to Black Mountain, NC with her son, Steven. She was pre-deceased by her parents, Max and Ruth Fischman and her husband Donald of 62 years until his death in 2012. She was a caring, loving, generous, compassionate, creative, and talented woman. An avid golfer, Jeanne was also a gourmet cook, great fisherman, accomplished painter, musician and actor, and a grand slam bridge player. She was a descendant of the Klein family, of Pittsburgh, who founded the world-famous Klein’ Restaurant in Pittsburgh in 1900 where it was a mainstay for almost a century before it was sold. She also was elected to several terms on the Island Park Library Board of Trustees. Jeanne grew up in Pittsburgh and attended and graduated 1945 Taylor Alderdice High School. Her education continued earning a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics in 1949 from Carnegie Tech’s (now CMU) Margaret Morrison College for Women, one of the original Carnegie Technical Schools. She was a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority, Greek Sing, and Scotch ‘n’ Soda Theatre. While at college Jeanne was social with many artists and actors who went on to great success and fame. Jeanne always enjoyed hearing and seeing her friend’s successes and would share stories about knowing them growing up and some of their antics together. She had some fun times! Her love for her CMU (also her husband’s alma mater), lead her to endow a scholarship in the School of the Arts which continues to help undergraduate students to this day. She could do anything with a needle and thread from knitting, sewing, crocheting, needlepoint, weaving, puppet making, etc. Her work and creativity were enjoyed by many. During the 1970’s/80’s she worked for Simplicity Patterns and travelled to many of the local high schools on Long Island. She created one day fashion show extravaganzas, which included teaching the young women everything from fashion design, make-up and hair, and runway walking. Later, she worked for Nassau County and Town of Hempstead focusing her attentions on the senior crowd and teaching them how to tailor either store bought clothes or self-made fashions to fit their changing bodies so they could remain in high style. Jeanne and her husband Donald were founding members of Temple Beit HaYam of Stuart, FL. Survivors include her devoted son, Steven of Black Mountain NC, and a daughter and her family in CT. Having out-lived most her family and friends, there are a few others scattered about the country. Memorial contributions may be made to the Donald G. and Jeanne Fischman Scholarship in the College of Fine arts – an endowed scholarship at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University PO Box 371525 Pittsburgh, PA 15251-7525. Please make checks payable to CMU and notate it is for the indicated scholarship, or a charity of your choice.

Tributes

Jeanne Schimmel

February 4, 1928 - May 10, 2022