Paula Amar Schwartz

Paula Amar Schwartz (né Paula Levine) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 9, 1934 to Samuel H. and Anne Klein Levine. Growing up in Squirrel Hill, she attended Taylor-Allderdice High School. In 1951 she left Pittsburgh for Antioch College, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, graduating in 1956, and moving to Albuquerque, NM, where she did graduate work at UNM in Psychology.

Married to Harold Bram in October 1955, her eldest son, Aaron David Bram was born in 1961 in Albuquerque. She moved with the family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1963, and her son Adam Noah Bram was born there in 1967. She worked for Devereux Schools, while completing her Ph.D.in Medical Psychology at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1971. She received their Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992. She and Harold divorced in 1970.

In 1975, she married Henri Amar, a Morrocan born physicist, teaching at Temple University, moving with her children and his into a big old Victorian house in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Paula was one of the early pioneers of clinical work in Biofeedback. She continued in active research and clinical practice, while serving as President of the Academic Division of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, President of the Philadelphia Society of Clinical Psychologists, and President of the Association of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, along with service on community boards and the Board of Congregation Beth Or in Springhouse, PA. In August of 1980, her husband Henri died of lung cancer. In order to care for him and for her family during his illness, Paula left her position at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, opening a private practice close to home, called Ambler Psychological Services.

In 1982, she met and married Melvin J. Schwartz, who blessed her life with a long and stable marriage of over 43 years. She often said that had she been fortunate enough to meet and marry Mel early in life, she would have had but one marriage. She told the story of that meeting in a book, titled "Storms and Sunshine," published in 2012 through the Ocean City Public Library. She believed that her husband, Henri, helped find and bring Mel to her, for which she was eternally grateful.

In 1990, while serving on the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology, the licensing agency, she was a delegate to the Association of State Boards’ meeting in Albuquerque, NM. Mel accompanied her to that meeting, by the end of which, they had bought a piece of land in Corrales, NM, and were making plans to retire in New Mexico.

Although licensed in New Mexico, Paula did not return to active practice. She played an active role on community boards and continued in national professional organizations for a number of years. These included service and officer roles on the Boards of Congregation Albert, the Open Space Alliance, Jewish Family Service, the Jewish Federation of Greater Albuquerque, the Jewish Community Center, Hillel at the University of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society.

During this time, she began participating in poetry groups in Albuquerque and in Ocean City, NJ, where she and her extended family spent their summers. These included Southwest Writers, Voices of the Valley, Congregation Albert Writers, Jersey Cape Writers, and Bad Penny Poets. Her work has appeared in the New Mexico Jewish Link, Primetime, Voices of Israel, Cyclamen and Swords. She has published volumes of poetry, "Beyond Time and Space" in 2008, "Unfolding Universe" in 2013, and "Parallel Universe" in 2024. She was a principle in the release of two films, “Challah Rising in the Desert” in 2017 and “A Long Journey: the Hidden Jews of the Southwest” in 2020. She was also a lifelong meditator.

In March 2024, her beloved Melvin departed this world. He is survived by an extensive, extended family. Paula Schwartz's Funeral Service will be held graveside at Fairview Memorial Cemetery. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Hillel at the University of New Mexico, whose house is named in memory of her deceased son Aaron. Other contributions may be made to Congregation Albert or to the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society.