Felice Schwartz, who led a thriving public relations firm in Miami Beach, dies at 90

Felice Schwartz, widow of Gerald Schwartz, a longtime Miami Beach political publicist, died Wednesday.

Schwartz had just turned 90 in August, where she was celebrated with a birthday parade that started at Palmetto Senior High School, the school her children attended.

Birthday bash special guests included Judge Arthur Rothenberg, whose political campaign was run by her late husband in 1984, and Libby Black, the granddaughter of Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.

But it was “a wholesome upbringing, daily exercise classes, 25-minute daily walks, and always having a positive attitude” that Schwartz, at the time, attributed her long years to.

Born in the small farm town of Pender, Nebraska, Schwartz moved to Miami Beach in 1948 as a teen with her family and later attended the University of Miami. There’s where she met her husband, Gerald, who was editor of the university newspaper while she was a majorette.

The couple married the day the Korean War started on June 25, 1950. The wedding time had to be delayed as Gerald had to report on the war.

Later on, her husband became a political consultant and the founding editor of The Jewish Star-Times, a subsidiary of the Miami Herald. She worked alongside him at the Gerald Schwartz Public Relations Agency and assisted in many political campaigns.

She and Gerald loved to travel during their 67 years of marriage before he died in 2018, also at the age of 90. She was involved in many charities and was a staunch supporter of Israel.

Schwartz was predeceased by her husband, her identical twin, Janice Ribnick, and a brother Stanley Pred.

She is survived by sons Gary (Lori) and Gregg (Janet), daughter Wendy (Tony) and grandchildren Catherine, Karen and Adam.

A virtual service will be held on February 9, 2021 at 11:00 a.m., due to Covid-19.