She served as a City Commissioner from 1973 to 1986;[2] she was appointed to fill the vacancy created when Neil Goldschmidt was elected mayor, and was re-elected three times.
[2] Her brother, Herbert M. Schwab, served on the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Schwab organized a sit-in at Perkins' Pub (in the basement of Lipman-Wolfe), which succeeded in opening the establishment to women.
She also was part of a small group (also including Gretchen Kafoury) who opened City Club of Portland to women.
She was the first woman nominated to be a Portland Rose Festival ambassador (or Royal Rosarian), though she declined the honor.