Alvord school board member Robert Schwandt has died from complications of a liver and kidney transplant. He was 66. (Courtesy of Schwandt family) Longtime Alvord school board member Robert Schwandt has died from complications following a kidney and liver transplant. He was 66. RELATED: Tom Hunt, longtime Riverside school board member, dies at 68 Schwandt, who died Thursday, June 27, joined the Alvord Unified School District board in 2014 after his 2012 retirement from AT&T and served as board president in 2015, 2019 and 2023. Schwandt is the second Riverside-area school board member to die within a week. Tom Hunt, vice president of the Riverside Unified School District board, died Saturday, June 22, after a years-long battle with cancer. “When Robert retired after 31 years with AT&T, the first thing he did was try to launch himself into helping in the community,” said his wife, Beth Schwandt, a teacher in the Alvord district. The couple met while Riverside’s La Sierra High School. She was a freshman; he was a junior. They became friends after meeting through a booster club and started dating a year later. They were married almost 42 years and had an anniversary coming up in October, she said. The Schwandt family are all products of the Alvord school district, from Schwandt and Beth Schwandt down to their children and now grandchildren, something in which her husband took great pride, Beth Schwandt said. “He just got a lot of joy giving back to his community and being part of all the schools that did so much for him,” Beth Schwandt said. Schwandt played a role in leading the district during the COVID-19 pandemic, worked to narrow achievement gaps and prepare students students for college and careers through programs such as Puente and Advancement Via Individual Determination, a Friday, June 28, news release states. He also helped pass Measure J, the district’s facilities bond that passed in 2022, according to the release. Schwandt was an advocate for STEM programs and worked to improve attendance. He would have been particularly proud of the stadium planned for his alma mater, La Sierra, a project that will be funded by Measure J, Beth Schwandt said. Schwandt started working in the community as part of the Alvord Education Foundation, was active in the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and worked to build bridges with businesses by fostering partnerships between the city and the district, the release states. He served on the Riverside County Committee on School District Organization and was a delegate representative to the California School Boards Association. “Bob was a true public servant, serving with distinction, commitment, and dedication as a Trustee on the Alvord Unified School Board since 2014, elected as its president three times,” State Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, wrote in a Saturday, June 29, statement. “A product of Alvord schools, he was a treasure in our region.” Related Articles Education | Moreno Valley schools’ new superintendent starts July 1 Education | Las Vegas Raiders’ Alexander Mattison’s old jersey is retired in San Bernardino Education | Temecula’s Joseph Komrosky can run for old school board seat – months after his recall Education | Sexual harassment claim leads to censure of Riverside County school trustee Bruce Dennis Education | Riverside’s La Sierra High is getting its own football stadium Schwandt graduated from Cal State Long Beach and earned a Master of Business Administration from UC Riverside. He spent his entire career as an executive for PacBell, which is owned by AT&T. Schwandt is survived by his wife of 42 years, Beth; their four children, Brittany, Robert Jr., Andrew and Bradley; and six grandchildren, Oliver, Olivia, Robert IV, Phoebe, Bentley and Peter. A celebration of life will be Friday, July 12, at 10:30 a.m. at Magnolia Church, 8351 Magnolia Ave., Riverside. In lieu of flowers, his family requests donations to the Alvord Educational Foundation. The Alvord school district, based in Corona, serves parts of the western Riverside area and a slice of northeast Corona.