The Love Train
This year’s Homecoming festivities will hold a special meaning for married alumni Sandy and Tadd Schwab as they celebrate Tadd’s 50th reunion with classmates from the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, the place where they first met and started their lives together.
While some couples may point to a “meet cute” moment, for Sandy and Tadd, each has a different recollection of where and when they first met. “I remember meeting him at a Hillel meeting,” Sandy says.
“She was dating my friend, and I remember meeting her in a dorm room with friends, just hanging out,” Tadd recalls.
While their actual initial meeting may be left to the ages, the couple knew each other a full semester before they started to date. It was a fateful train trip that changed their lives forever. In New York during Christmas break to work for his family’s children’s clothing business, before heading back to school, Tadd reached out to Sandy.
“We were friends, so I knew she was in Long Island and called her to ask what train she was taking and suggest we ride back together,” he shares. The next day, he made his first move. “I called her back and said, ‘How about when we get back, we go to dinner?’ And she said, ‘Sure.’”
There was a potential romantic hiccup. “A friend of ours decided he wanted to meet Sandy at the train and snuck down to the track to wait for her,” Tadd shares. “With flowers,” Sandy adds.
Tadd continues, “He was a little surprised to see me walk off the train with her. We’re still all good friends. I don’t know if he realizes that’s what happened or not, but it was a funny story.”
Following their dinner, the couple began dating, but Sandy had a boyfriend back home. It took an ultimatum to make it official. “Eventually, he said, ‘Him or me, make up your mind,’” she says. Sandy and Tadd dated for a year. Tadd graduated in June of 1975, and the two were engaged that October. After a 15-month engagement, Sandy graduated six months early in December 1976, and the pair tied the knot on Sandy’s birthday in January 1977.
I guess we found love in a lot of ways …
We fell in love there, and we found love of the school.
After moving to New Jersey following the wedding, the couple settled into their careers. Tadd took his place in his family’s business, where he served as vice president of sales and then moved on to a critical role in quality and compliance. When the company was sold, he served as a consultant until he made the decision to retire. Sandy worked as a technical designer for five years until motherhood came calling. “I decided when I had kids that I wanted to stay home,” she shares. Later in life, she studied to be an interior designer.
Sandy and Tadd continue to be involved with the University to this day. Tadd serves on the Academic Committee of the board of trustees, among other commitments. “We’ve been involved in alumni boards, alumni committees, and more,” Tadd says. The couple established the Schwab Family Scholarship alongside Tadd’s brother in 2001. “We have the ability to donate, and wanted to find a way to help people who don’t have those means to attend school.”
In addition to giving of their time mentoring fashion students and leading an alumni trip to Italy, Tadd and Sandy generously donated to the Kanbar Center, the Textile and Fashion Future Center, and athletic and other various programs, most recently giving to help to reinvigorate Jefferson’s partnership with Shenkar College in Israel.
In recognition of their passion for their alma mater, in 2010, the couple received the Graham J. Littlewood III ’42 Time, Talent & Treasure Award, which honors outstanding graduates who have demonstrated their commitment to the mission of the University and to future generations of students.
Today, the couple share a son and daughter and dote on their four grandchildren. “We brought our children up in New Jersey, and when our children all left the nest, we moved to Florida,” Sandy shares. “It’s wonderful. We love it here.”
“I guess we found love in a lot of ways,” Tadd says. “We fell in love there, and we found love of the school.”
The Class of 1975’s 50th reunion will be held at Homecoming on September 26 and 27, 2025 (Save the date!).