From May 27, 2017: Vivian Schatz, seated, with Sylvia Metzler, Greater Philadelphia Branch co-chair, Marlena Santoya, and Linda Schatz, one of Vivan’s daughters. Photo courtesy Tina Shelton.
July 2020
The Greater Philadelphia Branch was recently notified by Vivian Schatz’s daughter Linda Schatz that Vivian passed away on June 16, 2020, at her home in Mount Airy, Pennsylvania. She was 95 years old.
On May 27, 2017, the Greater Philadelphia Branch honored Vivian with its Peace and Justice Dove Award for her many years of service to the cause of peace and justice and for her dedication to making the world a more humanitarian place. As Tina Shelton wrote in an eNews article at the time, “Her activism was noted in stories, and her work at both the national level (board member) and the branch level (before the Internet!) was saluted.”
A touching, lively obituary in The Philadelphia Inquirer describes how Vivian enchanted her classrooms as a Junior High science teacher (even keeping a goat and ducklings in her classroom in the 60s!), and points to her many efforts as an environmentalist and peace activist. “She advocated against the use of torture and for civil rights, nuclear disarmament, and a living wage for all,” the article explains.
