CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Her memoir was titled “The Joy of Living is the Joy of Giving” and it’s a mantra that stayed with Betty Schoenbaum, a philanthropist with strong ties to both Charleston, W.Va. and Sarasota, Fl., up until her death Tuesday at the age of 100.
Schoenbaum was the widow of Alex Schoenbaum, the founder of Shoney’s, who died in 1996 after 56 years of marriage.
At its peak, there were more than a thousand Shoney’s restaurants in three dozen states.
Originally, Shoney’s started with a Parkette Drive-In on Charleston’s West Side — not far from the current site of the Schoenbaum Center which houses nonprofit resource programs for children and families, including a child care and learning center.
“She was very engaged, just a wonderful spirit, not just for the Schoenbaum Center, but if she saw a need, she made sure it was taken care of,” said Tim Morris, board president for the Schoenbaum Center, of Betty Schoenbaum.
He last talked with her about a week ago.
“She was wonderful, very engaged. I mean, she was on top of her game,” Morris said.
“She actually said she wanted me to fly down and see the Schoenbaum Center in Sarasota. She said, ‘I’ll pay for your ticket,’ and then a second later, she laughed and she goes, ‘But make sure it’s not first class.'”
A funeral for Schoenbaum was being planned for Friday at the B’nai Jacob Synagogue in Charleston, a city that Rabbi Victor Urecki said Schoenbaum always considered her home.
“Betty was a symbol for what our world needs,” Urecki said.
“Betty was a person who loved life, who loved to bring joy to people’s lives. She loved to laugh, to sing, to spread that happiness to others. She loved to see those people who needed a chance given a chance.”
Sites throughout the Capital City join the Schoenbaum Center in bearing the Schoenbaum name including the Schoenbaum Soccer Stadium and Amphitheater at Coonskin Park and the stage at Haddad Riverfront Park.
Schoenbaum’s giving, though, extended far beyond West Virginia’s borders in countless ways.
“I saw her giving here locally, in Florida and also in Israel and just watched her react to the stories of people whose lives, whose communities have been transformed because of her giving and the joy that it brought, not just to them, but to her heart,” Urecki said.
Morris said both Betty and Alex Schoenbaum saw huge community needs.
“They made a lot of money from the people in Charleston and West Virginia and, actually, all over the nation by the time it was done, but they gave back and they gave back in a way that meant something to individuals,” Morris said.
In addition to Friday’s funeral in Charleston, a separate celebration of life was going to be held in Sarasota, Fl. where Schoenbaum had most recently lived.
“A century of good works,” was how Joann Miller, one of Schoenbaum’s daughters, described her mother’s life to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Schoenbaum would have turned 101 next month.
“She was just a wonderful human being and she had a great compassion for everybody,” Morris said. “She was one of a kind and we need people to fill those shoes.”
Urecki said he personally owed a lot to Schoenbaum.
“She made me a better rabbi. She talked to me constantly. She gave me advice. She comforted me when things were rough. She was my friend, my advocate and she’s done so much for the Jewish community, as she’s done for so many people around the world,” he said.
“We just feel like we’ve lost a special, special guardian angel.”