Field Reichardt: Remembering the life, legacy of Michigan 'statesman' Joe Schwarz

EDITOR'S NOTE: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not of Ottawa News Network.

One of the great characters … and yes, “statesmen” of Michigan history died last week. Joe Schwarz was one of those rare people with both exceptional intellect and great integrity who ever served us.

I had the honor of serving as chief of staff to state Sen. John “Joe” Schwarz in the Michigan Senate from 1989 to 1990.

Here he was in brief: Combat surgeon (behind the lines in Laos during the Vietnam War). Naval attaché and CIA operative in Indonesia at the time of the overthrow of Sukarno. Cloner of roses (named after his wife, Anne). Brilliant otolaryngologist. Mayor of Battle Creek with guts. State senator with guts. Congressman with guts. Candidate for governor with guts. Lecturer on public policy at the Ford School at the University of Michigan. Speaker of Latin!

Before he hired me, we spent a day driving around his state senate district during which he pointed out many of his accomplishments as mayor, and discussed the goals he had for his community and the state. 

I remember one thing clearly in his comment when he agreed to hire me: “Field, you are a liberal Republican, and I am perhaps one of the most conservative people you have ever met. You will have to put aside some of your thinking while working with me.” 

I never had to. In the time I knew Joe, he evolved to be a true moderate.

When he hired me (a former member of the West Michigan Planned Parenthood Board), he made it very clear he was a serious Catholic and strong anti-abortion advocate. Once, he voted against a Right-to-Life proposal to require physicians to provide restricted advice to their patients. Being a Doctor, his doctor/patient confidentially principles took precedent. The Anti-Abortion movement never forgave him. Later in his career, he became pro-choice.

Here is an example of his integrity: He would never let a lobbyist take him to dinner. He would meet with anybody who wanted to talk to him about an issue, often at lunch in his office, for which he would pay half the cost of whatever take-out food the visitor would bring. 

I remember one of the key leaders of the nascent pro-LGBTQ rights movement coming in to see him. This was in 1989, in the early days of the movement. I did not participate in the meeting, which lasted over an hour. At the end of it, the visitor left with an acknowledgement that, though they had not agreed, it had been a great discussion. They both had smiles on their faces.

He never hesitated to take on controversial issues. Here are a few: 

As chairman of the Senate Education Committee, he introduced legislation to reduce the number of public school districts in Michigan from 564-250. As his chief of staff, I had to “edit” some of the comments that came forth to him from small school districts in his district. That idea (which was prescient) went nowhere. 

Another: He felt that medical personnel faced with triage situations should be granted immunity from lawsuits. To understand the issue of “triage,” he had me spend two Saturday nights in Detroit Receiving Hospital’s emergency department to better understand the issues faced by medical staff in the environment of doing their jobs under pressure, yet avoiding lawsuits. That legislation did not go far.

One other initiative was legislation to help small community hospitals in rural parts of the state through the authorship of a revision in law to create “primary care hospitals,” allowing them to meet fewer requirements for services than city hospitals.   

Joe, who drove home to Battle Creek every night after work in Lansing, maintained his practice as an ENT surgeon. On occasion, he would ask me to meet him at 5 a.m. at the hospital as he prepared for his day. That was not a fun part of the job, as I had to leave Lansing at 3:30 to be there on time. 

A great obituary was written by Zach Gorchow of the Gongwer News Service in Lansing. Take the time to read it, and you will understand what an amazing public servant Joe Schwarz was. He is already missed!

I will end with this paragraph from the Gorchow obituary: “Matt McLogan, who spent decades in and around state government, including a long run as the head of government affairs for Grand Valley State University, said he considers Schwarz the most impactful member of the Michigan Senate in his adult life …” 

— Field Reichardt is a resident of Grand Haven.

How to submit an opinion

Ottawa News Network accepts columns and letters to the editor from everyone. Letters should be about 300 words and columns should not exceed 1,000 words. ONN reserves the right to fact-check submissions as well as edit for length, clarity and grammar. Please send submissions to newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.