Killed in hit-and-run crash

For decades, in the South End and all over Boston, Ted Schwalb was renowned for his extravagant wit and warmth, his outsized personality and appetite for conversation, friendship, art and life. He was a compassionate bon vivant, and an enthusiast with a critical eye. A graduate of Marblehead High School, and Mass. College of Art, and an accomplished painter, he taught art at Stoneham High School for decades.

He held hundreds of memorable dinners in his art-filled home, and when he traveled to Chicago to celebrate his 60th birthday, his friends lamented to the Boston Globe that the beloved South End personality would not be dining with them. After his retirement, he spent winters in Mexico, returning every Spring to Boston. He is warmly remembered by his sister, the Cambridge artist Brenda Star, his nephews and their families, and countless others. Donations in his memory can be made to the Mass. College of Art. A private memorial service will be held.

Ted Schwalb was killed Wednesday, June 6 in a hit-and-run crash in Allston. The alleged driver, Phocian Fitts, pleaded not guilty in Brighton Municipal Court to leaving the scene of a fatal crash and motor vehicle homicide.