S. Gary Schiller

Samuel Gary Schiller (1917-1999) was a community activist and businessman in New York City.
== Early life ==
Schiller was born January 26, 1917 in Borough Park, Brooklyn, the youngest of five children of David and Annie Schiller (née Anna Feingold). Schiller's parents emigrated from Vienna, Austria to New York in 1903 via Ellis Island, where their last name was changed from Schuyler to Schiller.
== Education and professional life ==
Schiller attended Erasmus Hall High School and Brooklyn College. He dropped out of school to support his family, working as a traveling salesman and selling men's clothing for Merrill Sharpe and Countess Mara. In the mid-1960s, he opened an antiques shop for men on Greenwich Avenue in Manhattan. After his wife Audrey's death in 1970, Schiller closed his own antiques shop and took over her antique jewelry business on West 47th Street, changing the name from Audrey Schiller Antique Jewelry to S. Gary Schiller Antique Jewelry. In 1980, Schiller enrolled at Queens College to complete his bachelor's degree, graduating cum laude two and a half years later.
== Community Activism ==
Schiller was active in various issues that affected Mill Basin, his Brooklyn neighborhood. As Executive Chairman of the Emergency Committee Opposing the Mill Basin Incinerator, Schiller led the fight against various New York City government agencies in 1954 and again briefly in 1956 that blocked the construction of an incinerator and marine waste transfer station in Mill Basin. Schiller was chairman of the executive board of the coalition of the civic associations of Mill Basin, Flatbush Park and Bergen Beach, Brooklyn that came together to fight the incinerator proposal. 
From 1955-1959 when juvenile delinquency was on the rise and with a belief that youth groups kept children out of trouble in New York City, Schiller helped lead the effort in having the city drop the fees charged to youth groups for using public schools as meeting places in the evenings.
In 1965, Schiller was instrumental in getting two local laws passed to create two parks in Mill Basin. Evidence of his community ties and personal interest can be seen in who the parks are named after: a past president of a local civic association (Lindower Park) and a soldier from Mill Basin killed in action in Vietnam (Hickman Playground).
Schiller's continued interest in keeping Mill Basin and the surrounding area free from unwanted development can also be seen in his interest in the fate of Floyd Bennett Field and Jamaica Bay in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In addition to being the Community Mayor of Mill Basin, Schiller was active within many organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, Flatlands, Brooklyn|Flatlands Post #391 (American Legion), Mill Basin Civic Association (president), and the Military Order of the Purple Heart (commander, Brooklyn Chapter 19). In 1970 Schiller reportedly belonged to 29 different organizations. Regarding his involvement with the Boy Scouts, Joseph H. Gluck wrote in the Coney Island Times that "S. Gary Schiller, the Chairman of the Brooklyn Jewish Committee on Scouting, in my estimation is scouting's ambassador. Gary has traveled all over the world in the name of the BSA."
Gary Schiller lived the first 55 years of his life in Brooklyn before moving to Little Neck, Queens, where he lived from 1972 until his death in 1999. There is a scholarship in Schiller's name at Queens College. Schiller's connection to Brooklyn was retained throughout his life, even after he moved to Queens, with his involvement with the Flatbush Park Jewish Center, where he was past president and where he also attended various holiday services.
== Personal life ==
Schiller married his first wife, Audrey, in 1940. They had a son, Justin, born September 10, 1943. During World War II, Schiller served with the infantry in the 3rd Armored Division and was awarded the Purple Heart after he was wounded in Mortain, France on August 10, 1944. Returning home to Brooklyn after having been wounded, Schiller and his wife, Audrey, moved into a house in Mill Basin in 1945. They lived here until Audrey Schiller died from cancer on May 10, 1970. Gary Schiller married his second wife, Teddi, in 1972.
Schiller died in Little Neck on March 25 1999 at age 82 after a brief illness. He was survived by his second wife, Teddi, as well as a son, Justin, of Kingston, NY and a sister, Ethel Barasch, of Las Vegas, NV. Schiller is buried in Linden Hill Cemetery.
Category:1917 births
Category:1999 deaths
Category:Brooklyn College alumni
Category:People from Brooklyn
Category:Erasmus Hall High School alumni