Obituaries

Richard Lee Schwartz

Photo of Richard Lee Schwartz
Richard Lee Schwartz, age 66, of Little Rock, died April l2th, 2013, of complications brought on by Type II Diabetes. Richard was born in Muncie, Indian, on May 29, 1946, the son of Charles and Hazel Schwartz of St. Petersburg, Florida. He served in the United States Navy during the Cold War years, from 1965 to 1969, as an electronics technician aboard submarines based at Naval Station Key West. Richard always said that his job in the Navy was the best one, because only his work area was air-conditioned. After his discharge from the Service in 1969, he entered college at the University of South Florida in Tampa, earning an undergraduate degree in accounting. He later went on to earn a Master of Business Administration degree, also from South Florida. After graduation, he went to work for Price Waterhouse, where he was a Senior Accountant. He was eventually licensed to do Public Accounting in Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas. Richard relocated to Sheridan, Arkansas, in 1977, where he opened an accounting practice. Later, he opened another branch in Little Rock, where he served clients and customers for nearly 40 years before retiring from active practice with Schwartz & Associates in 2010. During those 40 years he prepared tax returns for individuals, partnerships, corporations, trusts and estates. On numerous occasions he provided expert witness testimony and litigation support in federal and state courts on business valuations, domestic relations litigations, loss of income and contract disputes. He was active in the accounting and financial communities in Little Rock. He was a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers, the American Society of Appraisers, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Phi Kappa Phi, Beta Gamma Sigma, and the Sheridan Rotary Club, where he was elected Rotarian of the Year in 2000. He was a member of the Arkansas Society of CPA's where he was the only member to receive the Discussion Leader of the Year Award four times. However, his greatest accomplishment was Chairman of the Building Task Force and is the reason the society has the nice building that they have now. In 1988 Richard and Cathy Tilley married. Richard and Cathy did many things together like restoring their 1966 Chevy truck and 1966 Mustang but they enjoyed building their log cabin on the Little Red River near Heber Springs, the best where he and Cathy appreciated the peaceful ebb and flow of the river. Richard is survived by his wife, Cathy; his Mother, Hazel Schwartz of Little Rock; son and daughter in law, Chuck and Charla Schwartz, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; daughter. Kelly Cardone, of Little Rock; daughter and son-in-law, Margaret and Zack Denny of Bentonville; grandchildren Megan, Aiden, Caleb, Cameron, Caydon and Evelyn; sister and brother-in-law, Lana and Terry Newkirk, of St. Petersburg, Florida and their children, Lisa and Jenny. No visitation is planned, but a celebration of life will be held at Ruebel Funeral Home, www.ruebelfuneralhome.com, Saturday April 20th at 11 a.m.. His celebration is being held on a Saturday because if you knew Dick he wouldn't want anyone to miss any billable hours.

Published April 17, 2013

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