Rosel Harriet Hoffberger^[1]

Abt 1928 - 2017  (~ 89 years)

• Name	Rosel Harriet Hoffberger  [2, 3, 4]
  Birth	Abt 1928	Maryland   [2]
  Gender	Female
  Married Name	Schewel
  Death	28 sept 2017	Lynchburgh VA
  Notes	ROSEL HOFFBERGER SCHEWEL OBITUARY Baltimore Sun on Oct. 1, 2017 Rosel Hoffberger Schewel, a native of Baltimore, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on September 28, 2017. With her death, Lynchburg, Va. lost an extraordinary citizen-a philanthropist, teacher, scholar, mentor, political activist, founder, board leader, and a champion for public education, racial justice and the rights of women. Rosel's first and deepest commitment was always to her family and friends. She and Elliot Schewel shared a loving marriage for 68 years. While raising her family, Rosel also had a distinguished career as a special education teacher and later as an Associate Professor of Education at Lynchburg College, falling in with a group of exciting young scholars. Perhaps unique in American education, Rosel not only served on the faculty of the college but chaired its board of trustees as well. On top of her professional career, Rosel's civic involvement was remarkable. Her Park School high school yearbook bears this inscription beneath her photograph: "An iron fist in a velvet glove." Nowhere was her iron fist more in evidence than in her first civic involvement in Lynchburg as a Girl Scout leader. As president of the local Girl Scout Council in the early 1950s, Rosel insisted that the new scout camp, Camp Sacajawea, allow black and white scouts equally to attend. Some board members resigned in protest, but Rosel persisted and succeeded. Rosel's specialty was founding and building institutions. At the end of her life, she said that her proudest achievements were helping to found the Lynchburg League of Women Voters in the early 1950's, the Women's Resource Center in the 1970's, and Beacon of Hope in the 2010's. Rosel was a feminist and proud of it. When local women formed a group to recruit and fund women running for office, they named it "Rosel's List." Rosel was the first woman to serve on the board of Virginia Baptist Hospital, the first woman to serve on and chair the board of Lynchburg College and the first woman to serve as president of Agudath Shalom Synagogue. The great cause of her final years was Beacon of Hope, the non-profit she cherished whose mission is to enable all of Lynchburg's high school graduates to get a post-secondary education. Rosel was a graduate of Hood College, received M.Ed. and Ed.S. degrees and an honorary doctorate from Lynchburg College. She is survived by her husband, former Sen. Elliot Schewel; by her children, Steve and his spouse Lao Rubert, Michael and his spouse Priscilla Burbank, and Susan and her spouse Lizzy Schmidt; and her grandchildren, Laura Schewel, Elias Schewel, Abraham Schewel and his spouse Lauren Lee, Benjamin Schewel and his spouse Keri, and Solomon Schewel. She is also survived by a newborn great-grandson just born to Ben and Keri-Elliot Daniel Schewel. Funeral services for Rosel will be conducted by Rabbi John Nimon at Agudath Shalom Synagogue at 11:00 am on Monday, October 2. In lieu of flowers, Rosel requested donations be made in her name to Beacon of Hope, P.O. Box 1261, Lynchburg, Va. 24505. Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family. To send condolences please visit tharpfuneralhome.com.
  Person ID	P352	Flack Genealogy
  Last Modified	9 Feb 2020

  
  

  Father	Samuel Herman Hoffberger,   b. 19 May 1888, Baltimore MD d. 30 Apr 1961, Baltimore MD (Age 72 years)
  Mother	Gertrude Miller,   b. 22 Feb 1895, Maryland d. Mar 1981, Baltimore MD (Age 86 years)
  Family ID	F77	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Husband	Elliot S Schewel,   b. 20 Jun 1924   d. 15 Dec 2019 (Age 95 years)
  Children	1. Michael Jay Schewel   2. Steve Schewel
  Family ID	F134	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	5 Jan 2020

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - Abt 1928 - Maryland Death - 28 sept 2017 - Lynchburgh VA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos		Rosel Hoffberger Schewel
  		Elliot and Rosel Schewel

  
  

  Histories

  The Hoffberger Journey in America: 1882 - 2005 Memoirs of a Baltimore Family Jewish Museum of Maryland [Catalog Number: 2007.054.027]: Self-published memoirs and profiles of the Hoffberger family, assembled by the Lois (Hoffberger) Feinblatt family with the assistance of Fran Forman in 2005 [87 pages].

  
  

• Sources

  [S418858734] Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry Family Tree. http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=119959250&pid=27 [S418858762] Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Year: 1940; Census Place: Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland; Roll: m-t0627-01525; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 4-429. [S418858808] Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S418859019] Ancestry.com, Virginia, Marriage Records, 1936-2014, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia.