Eugene Jay Schwartz, known affectionately to friends and family as Gene, passed away peacefully January 14, 2017 at Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, NY after a brief illness. He was 93. Survivors include his cherished wife of 66 years, Ida; son, David; and daughter-in-law, Donna (Boyle) of Newburgh, NY. A beloved husband, father, teacher, traveler and lifelong learner, Gene was born February 28, 1923 in Brooklyn, NY. He spent his childhood days playing paddleball, stickball and sneaking into Ebbets Field to watch the Dodgers play baseball; and graduated from Brooklyn Boys & Girls High School. Gene was a decorated World War II veteran, serving as a radar and radio technician in the Pacific Theater and receiving a patent for his work developing a new type of radar system to detect approaching enemy planes. Following the War, Gene worked as a quality control engineer helping to build the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, designing the banking for the roadway: although the construction specifications called for banking at 25 miles per hour, Gene liked to drive a little faster than that, so the road is actually banked for 45 miles per hour. Gene then embarked on an entrepreneurial career, opening Parkside Pet Shop and a related import business, Amazonas Enterprises, in Mount Vernon, NY. Working with explorer and adventurer Con Donovan, he established himself as the first importer of exotic tropical fish from the Amazon, and his reptile enclosure served as alternate housing for many of the larger reptiles and amphibians from the Bronx Zoo. He supplied all of the animals and birds featured on the popular children's television show "Captain Kangaroo," as well as for one of the first TV reality shows, "Candid Camera." In the mid-'60s, Gene turned his attention to one of his first loves, education, earning his bachelor's and master's degrees at New York City's Yeshiva University. Shortly after graduation, he began teaching science at New Rochelle High School, where he remained until his retirement in 1985. He specialized in working with disaffected and disadvantaged youth, developing a nationally-adopted CORE curriculum to help at-risk students learn and stay in school. He was a leading negotiator for the American Federation of Teachers, and a founding member of the Educational & Governmental Employees Federal Credit Union, serving as president of the organization for more than two decades. Gene met his treasured wife Ida during a ski trip and they were married in 1950. The young couple purchased a home in Scarsdale, where they remained until declining health necessitated a move to assisted living three years ago. Gene never tired of puttering in his garden there, growing a wide variety of flowers, vegetables, herbs, and his prized tomatoes; and spending many happy hours entertaining friends with backyard parties and barbeques. He was known as an engaging storyteller, never tiring of regaling his listeners with tall tales, jokes and puns, often eliciting both groans and laughter. During and after his retirement, Gene and Ida indulged their lifelong passion for travel, crisscrossing the United States and Canada and visiting hundreds of national and state parks, historic sites and monuments. They became true "citizens of the world," visiting the far-flung reaches of the globe, including Israel, Egypt, Bali, Java, Africa, Nova Scotia, Mexico, Italy, Turkey, and China, where they met and befriended the college professors who later that year instigated the Tiananmen Square protests. Gene was an avid cameraman, bringing home thousands of photos which he then transformed into compelling educational slideshows for the benefit of the Westchester County branch of the Archaeological Institute of America. Once distant travel become difficult, Gene and Ida continued their quest for intellectual stimulation as founding members of Learning In Retirement at Iona College (LIRIC) branch in New Rochelle. At Gene's request, no viewing will be held. Arrangements are being made by Brooks Funeral Home in Newburgh. Interment and private graveside service will be held Monday, January 16 at New Montefiore Cemetery in Pinelawn, Long Island. The family will sit shiva and receive callers at their Newburgh home, 321 West Street, from 5 to 9 p.m. on Monday, January 16, and from 5 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, January 17. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to a local animal shelter in Gene's name.