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REFLECTIONS ON AN ICON: Judith McCartin Scheide, left, with Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) Music Director Rossen Milanov during a 2017 sponsor recognition event held by the PSO at Prospect House. The PSO is among several organizations that were beneficiaries of the late Scheide’s generosity. (Photo courtesy of Princeton Symphony Orchestra staff)
By Anne Levin
News of Judith McCartin Scheide’s death on December 29 has inspired numerous tributes from members of cultural organizations in Princeton. With her late husband William H. “Bill” Scheide, Judy Scheide was a prominent philanthropist admired not only for her monetary support of museums and musical organizations, but for her warmth and dedication as well.
“Judy had a kind of audacity as a philanthropist,” said James Steward, director of the Princeton University Art Museum. “She wanted not just to do good work, but to make a real impact, and she put the full creative force of her intelligence into it — not just her financial support. Judy knew that she was setting an example, in the way that true leaders do. Her passing leaves a real gap in this community, which the next generation will need to step up and fill.”
Adam Welch, executive director of the Arts Council of Princeton since September 2020, regrets that he never met Scheide, “though I have heard about her force of will,” he said. “Like [with] so much of the past, I have had to rely on an institutional knowledge of her. Sentiments have echoed, she was treasured as an instrumental Princeton philanthropist and was essential in helping the Arts Council become the vital community arts center it is today.”
In April 1997, the Scheides and the Rev. David McAlpin Jr. were first to offer a $150,000 challenge grant to launch the capital campaign to renovate and expand the Arts Council’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts. “Her support was unwavering and later when she served as trustee, she was 100 percent behind our trajectory,” Welch said. “In 2008, she stated, ‘Bill Scheide and I support the Arts Council for its unique ability to bring together our diverse community through its excellent programs.’ Judy’s incredible wisdom and kindness will be greatly missed throughout our community.”
Among the other institutions paying tribute to Scheide was Princeton University Library. Bill Scheide (class of 1936) bequeathed the Scheide Library to the University in 2015.
“Judy was a beloved presence within the library, and whose involvement and generosity as a library donor was but one extension of her significant philanthropic work in the broader community,” reads a
tribute published online. “Judy’s visits to the Scheide Library and related events in recent years were many. She took particular joy in the annual Spring Open House for the Scheide Scholars Program, an event that she began in the 1990s. There she, like Bill, took great pleasure in meeting and getting to know all of the current scholarship recipients, showing magnificent books and sharing stories of how they changed the world. Judy’s presence, spirit, and example will be dearly missed.”
Princeton Public Library was another recipient of the Scheides’ support. “The Scheides were generous donors who made transformational gifts to our capital and endowment campaigns,” wrote Executive Director Jennifer Podolsky in the library’s weekly newsletter, Library Connections. “While primarily identified with the library that bears the Scheide name on the Princeton University campus, Princeton Public Library was the place that perhaps best reflected their love of books and Judy’s tireless work to level the playing field for all in our town.”
“Of course, there was a third passion associated with the Scheides: music,” Continued Podolsky. “Even here, Judy’s generosity to the library knew no bounds. In 2012, we were the beneficiary of the annual birthday concert for Bill featuring the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. The birthday concert was one of Judy’s many passions, and staff worked with her and her team to ensure that Bill’s 98th birthday was special. Fittingly, the event was titled ‘Booked for the Evening.’ Our sincere condolences go out to the Scheide family. Part of Judy’s remarkable legacy is a strong public library she loved.”
Music was a passion of both the Scheides. A tribute published by the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra calls Judith Scheide a close friend of the ensemble and “a generous philanthropist with a particular interest in history and the arts.”
Scheide’s support of the orchestra’s Monteverdi 450 project in 2017, which saw productions of the composer’s three surviving operas tour to national and international venues, was key. Two years earlier, after the death of her husband, Scheide donated a famous portrait of J.S. Bach painted in 1748 by Elias Gottlob Haussmann, to the Leipzig Bach Archive and Museum.
“She will be greatly missed by MCO, and our condolences are with her family and friends at this difficult time,” the tribute reads.
The Princeton Symphony Orchestra also counted Scheide among its dedicated benefactors. “Judy Scheide was a wonderful supporter of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra,” said Marc Uys, executive director. “Her involvement with our organization spanned decades, with over 10 years as a trustee and, more recently, as a co-sponsor of our POPS! series and regular supporter of our Annual Gala. We’re so fortunate to be part of her legacy of live-arts leadership and patronage.”
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