Dr. Louis Schwab to be honored

Dr. Louis Schwab will be honored this Saturday at Friends Care Center.

By Diane Chiddister

When you hear stories about Dr. Louis Schwab, a villager who practiced pediatric medicine in Xenia, you might think the speaker is referring to a long ago time, a time when doctors made housecalls (for free), fielded 3 a.m. phone calls from panicky moms with kindness and grace, and really, really listened. You might think so, but you would be wrong — Dr. Schwab, a doctor for more than 50 years, practiced his calling until only a few years ago, and the moms and dads whose children were in his care considered themselves very lucky.

“He’s a wonderful man,” said Patti Dallas, whose daughter, Nathania, was Dr. Schwab’s patient as she grew up. “He always made you feel so good.”

For Tammy Monnin, who worried that Dr. Schwab would retire before her two children were grown, what stands out is his listening.

“He had the ability to listen to what a parent had to say. He trusted your judgement,” Monnin said. “I absolutely love him.”

And to his son, Martin Schwab, his father is “the gentlest person I have ever known.”

This Saturday, Aug. 4, Dr. Schwab will be honored at a reception at Friends Care Center from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome, especially former patients, colleagues and friends.

Schwab, who with his wife, Nancy, has lived in Yellow Springs for 30 years, currently lives at FCC. He has been diagnosed with metatastic prostate cancer.

In an interview this week, Martin Schwab talked about his father’s long and unorthodox career in medicine. Raised in Cincinnati, he graduated from Princeton College and from Harvard Medical School before going into private practice in Cincinnati. In 1976 he moved with his family to Yellow Springs, and took the position of medical director at Children’s Medical Center in Dayton. He kept that job until 1983, after which he worked for a few years for an HMO.

But his father didn’t like the business side of medicine, according to Martin Schwab, and longed to return to working with people. So at the age of 66 he did so, starting a practice in Xenia. His office was modest, and his patients sometimes couldn’t pay him, but that didn’t keep Dr. Schwab from treating them, according to Martin.

Dr. Schwab continued to practice for 14 years, sometimes sharing his practice with another retired local physician, Meinhard Robinow. He retired in 1998 at the age 89, and only because Medicaid insisted that he treat more patients, something Schwab refused to do because he felt a larger practice would cut into the time he could spend with each individual.

During his 14 years in Xenia, “He made a lot of house calls, and he didn’t charge for them,” Martin Schwab said. “He felt that was part of the care.”

Dr. Schwab’s grandfather and uncle were both physicians, and he felt inspired to emulate their personal manner in dealing with patients, according to Martin Schwab.

“He felt honor-bound to hold the family tradition of treating patients with a personal touch,” Martin said. “He felt that was the right thing to do.”

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com