Passing of SSVFD Honorary Member Barry Schwartz – Tuesday, October 1, 2019
The Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department (SSVFD) extends its condolences to the family of Barry Schwartz who passed away on October 1, 2019. Barry was an honorary member of SSVFD since the days when he and his boyhood friend and business partner Jerry Gurewitz operated B.J. Pumpernickle’s, a New York style deli, in Olney next to the Olney 9 Cinemas. That is the location where Harris Teeter is today. B.J. Pumpernickle’s was an Olney landmark for more than 20 years, from 1989 until the beginning of 2010. B.J.’s contributed generously to community institutions such as the Montgomery General Hospital, the Olney Theater, and the Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department. For a time, Barry also provided the catering for the SSVFD’s Oak Ballroom. Long time Olney-area residents undoubtedly remember the artist at B.J. Pumpernickle’s who would sketch stylized portraits of patrons. Barry would display those caricatures on the deli walls for several weeks and then return them to the patron, most likely on a return visit. More importantly, patrons remember the warmth and good humor with which Barry greeted his guests and the display cases of cakes and desserts that graced the entrance of B.J.’s. We mourn the passing of Barry Schwartz, the B in B.J. Pumpernickel’s. Barry is pictured on the left in the B.J.’s logo above. He will be missed.
https://dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/silver-spring-md/barry-schwartz-8875194