Gertrude was raised in Loretto, Pa. Gertrude, her brother Charlie, their parents and others embarked on an overseas vacation in 1903. Gertrude’s eight page handwritten letter to her sister Cecelia survives, and chronicles their visits to Sicily and Tunis.
An article that anticipated her marriage to David Barry indicated she was to receive a wedding gift of $2,000,000 from her brother Charlie. “Charlie is the best brother any girl in this world ever had,” was her earnest reply. The gift was disclosed at the annual ball of the Columbus Club in Pittsburgh. It noted that David was the cashier of a bank in Johnstown and “one of the substantial business men of that place. He is on the sunny side of 40 and is not at all bad looking. Miss Schwab resembles her big brother in a marked degree. She is plump without being stout, not very tall and with a wealth of chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes. She has a happy smile and sunny disposition of her famous brother and also his hearty and infectious laugh.”

She and David lived in Johnstown. After David’s controversies and death, Gertrude received monthly allowances from her brother Charlie and relocated to Loretto. She last lived in Pittsburgh, Pa.

David was a prominent banker who worked his way up from a clerkship with the Cambria Iron Company to President of the First National Bank of Johnstown and the Title Trust Guarantee Company. According to various newspaper articles, both institutions closed and were forced into receivership. Indictments followed when federal investigators discovered that a $10,000 withdrawal involving David and other bank officials was offset by a fraudulent note. More serious indictments were brought when it was discovered that bank officials also transferred $200,000 in funds belonging to the Johnstown School District from the bank to the title company, without the school district’s knowledge or consent. The transfer was covered up by fraudulent book entries and false statements to a comptroller. One banking official pled guilty to forging documents and two others committed suicide. The charges over the school funds resulted in a four day trial in Cambria County. On June 15, 1934, a jury returned a guilty verdict against David on all counts after a 9 1/2 hour deliberation.

In a separate but simultaneous controversy, David was named in lawsuits by the bank receivers to recover on failed loans on which David had pledged as collateral stock of the Climax Fire Brick Company. David was also serving as President of that company. As a result, David was ousted by the directors and shareholders on June 20, 1934.

The next day, David died suddenly of a heart attack following a bout of acute ingestion. His last words, to his wife Gertrude, were “I feel like I’m smothering.” At the time he was awaiting sentencing by the state court for the banking law violations, with the federal trial in Pittsburgh and civil suits still pending. “A leader in the civic and commercial life of Cambria county for many years, the indictments and the closing of the two banks came as a shock to this community.”

David’s death certificate indicated he died of coronary artery disease and that there was no autopsy.