Stephen ‘Ted’ Schwartz Jr., Sussex Tech student

Stephen Edward "Ted" Schwartz Jr., 16, of Seaford, died in the Nemours Alfred I DuPont Hospital for Children Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, after an almost eight-year battle with leukemia.

He is survived by his parents, Dr. Stephen and Judy Schwartz; and by his older sister and best friend Alexandra (Ali) Schwartz of Seaford.

His maternal grandparents are Shelley and Mary Lou Spicer of Seaford. He is also survived by several aunts and uncles: Linda Spicer of Rockville, Md., Carol Spicer Nair and her husband Douglas of Germantown, Md., Elisabeth Schwartz of Woodland Hills, Calif., Peter Schwartz and his wife Marion of Canandaigua, N.Y. and Thomas Schwartz and his wife Martha Jo of Canandaigua; as well as numerous cousins, great-aunts and great-uncles.

Ted was a good student and enjoyed books and music.

A 10th grader at Sussex Technical High School, Ted was involved in several school activities including the Key Club, and he volunteered with the Seaford District Library. He was very appreciative of his supportive teachers at Sussex Tech, at Sussex Academy of Arts and Sciences and at Blades Elementary School.

Despite missing over three years of attendance because of his cancer treatments, his teachers facilitated his keeping up with his studies.

Ted was well supported in his final weeks by the very caring nurses, doctors, and staff of the BBMT unit at A I DuPont Hospital where he had received both stem cell and bone marrow transplants.

He was a passionate supporter of several environmental causes, especially saving the harp seals on the ice floes at Iles de la Madeleine in Canada which he had visited via Make-A-Wish.

Further, he was an avid champion of the downtrodden, the underdogs and the needy.
Ted’s life will be celebrated with a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 21, at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 532 East Stein Highway, Seaford. A luncheon reception will follow. Interment will be private.

The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 p.m., Friday, Jan. 20, at Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Hardesty Chapel, 202 Laws Street, Bridgeville.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to the Nemours Fund for Children’s Health, A I DuPont Hospital for Children Capital Campaign, Shands House, 1600 Rockland Rd., Wilmington, DE 19803 or to the Delaware Leukemia Lymphoma Society at 100 W. 10th Street, Suite 209, Wilmington, DE 19801.