Barbara Schwartz, 60, remembered for her caring and humorous personality, died on Dec. 7 of complications of cancer, after being diagnosed with the disease last summer.A Brandeis employee since 1999, she most recently served as a senior program associate for the Romance and Comparative Literature Department. Before that, she worked at the Rose Art Museum and then for the Office of Communications.

"Barbara was a wonderful and warm presence in the halls of Shiffman, and in the short time that she was with us, Barbara made many friends," Prof. Dian Fox, chair of the ROCL department said. "I recall that last spring, after an enthusiastic welcome from Barbara, one distinguished visitor to ROCL said to me, 'Every department should have someone like this.'"

Ms. Schwartz was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and settled in Framingham in the late 1960s. She was a homemaker for many years and very active in Temple Beth Am. Her funeral there brought 700 attendees, said her daughter Andrea Schwartz, of Framingham.

"She was always involved in the Jewish community," her sister said.

Family and colleagues all commented on Ms. Schwartz's quirky sense-of-humor.

"She was a riot," said her sister Fredda Goldberg, of Providence, R.I. "She can always find humor in everything."

Audrey Griffin, the publications editor during Ms. Schwartz's time with Communications, recalled that she "was one of the most fantastic people you'd ever meet."

As the primary contact between Communications and their on-campus clients, Griffin said Schwartz knew when to be serious, as all work went through her.

"She always breathed so much life into the office," Griffin said. "She made our days go by so much quicker."

What impressed Griffin about Schwartz was her ability to "really get to know

each and every person she encountered."

"Barbara knew everyone on campus by name, and everyone knew Barbara," Griffin said. "She possessed the unique ability to make you feel special in the moments she spent with you."

Those close to Ms. Schwartz say she particularly loved working for the Rose Art Museum, where she interacted with student interns and accompanied Lois Foster, a prominent donor to the museum, on fundraising trips to New York, Schwartz's friend of 34 years, Arlene Bornstein, said.

Goldberg recalled shopping for sundries at K-Mart with Barbara: "She found a sequin hat and just started singing."

Barbara's life was filled with such outrageous moments, Goldberg said.

"She always liked to be the center of attention," Andrea Schwartz, her daughter, said. "There's too many stories to tell."

"She had loads of friends," Goldberg said, and was always there for them, including helping out a friend with a disabled child.

Prior to working at Brandeis, Ms. Schwartz worked at the Danforth Museum of Art and at the Jewish Memorial Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Roxbury.

Ms. Schwartz graduated in 1987 from Regis College with a bachelor's degree in Art History. "Her true love was the arts," her husband Philip Schwartz said.

"She loved Brandeis and working with the students. Everybody who worked with her loved her and her sense of humor," Philip Schwartz continued. "We had no idea that the previous year was going to be her last."

She loved to knit, dance and shop for antiques, Andrea Schwartz said. She was also an avid Mah-Jongg player, a game which she enjoyed playing with her good friends.

In addition to her husband, sister and daughter, she is survived by her children Hedy Dion, of Framingham, and Carolyn Lieberman, of Westborough, her brother Gerald Goldberg, of Buffalo, and two grandchildren, Nicole and Noah. A third grandchild, Bram, was born Jan. 6.