In Memoriam: Camilla Schlegel (1951-2022)

TDPS remembers our former program coordinator as an exceptionally kind and compassionate person.

Camilla Phillips Schlegel (age 70) passed away at her home in Silver Spring on February 28, 2022, surrounded by the love and care of her family, after a long journey with ovarian cancer.

Camilla was born on April 11, 1951 in Des Moines, Iowa, the youngest child of Charles William Phillips and Elizabeth Seitner Phillips. The family lived in Nebraska and Delaware before moving to the DC area during her childhood. She attended Montgomery Blair High School and graduated from the University of Maryland, with a BA in American Studies. It was during a film class at UMD that she met her lifelong friend, partner, and husband, Barry, with whom she shared 47 years marked by a shared love of life, children, friends,, travel, adventures, laughter, and most of all each other. Theirs was a marriage of mutual devotion, loving companionship, and memorable moments.

During her professional career, Camilla worked at the Library of Congress, the National Parks Service East, and the University of Maryland. At UMD she worked at both the McKeldin and Agricultural Libraries, and most recently retired as the Program Coordinator for the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies.

Camilla was an exceptional person whose kindness and compassion for others, including animals, left a mark on all those she met. A sensitive and humble woman, she had a knack for making family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and strangers feel special. She had a loving concern for the needs of the graduate students she worked with, the recipients of the charitable work she did for needy children with the Junior Women's Club of Chevy Chase, and those who suffer worldwide oppression. She was a woman of style, elegance, dignity and finesse, an artist with skills in many mediums, and a gracious hostess. She organized outstanding celebrations for children, put her heart and soul into projects for schools, church, clubs and charity. She could make the banal beautiful.

She is survived by her cherished husband, Barry Schlegel, their children Christopher Schlegel of Bethesda, MD, Louise Schlegel Wood of Columbia, MD and her husband, Robert Wood, grandchildren Bruce and Isaiah Wood, her brother Todd Phillips of Middleburg, VA, several nieces, nephews, in-laws, and many, many friends. She was pre-deceased by her parents and her sister, Anne Phillips of Silver Spring, MD.

A Celebration of Life and Love will be held at The Lutheran Church of St. Andrew, 15300 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, MD on Monday, April 11, 2022 at 10:30 a.m., followed by a reception in the Church Fellowship Hall, where all are encouraged to share their thoughts and memories of Camilla. Donations in her name may be made to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.

Published by The Washington Post on March 13, 2022.