Gerald Arthur Swinnerton

Gerald Arthur Swinnerton (Jerry) of Lincoln City, Oregon, passed away on March 9, 2025 at the age of 94. Jerry was born December 18, 1930, in Warren, Ohio to Ruth E. (McCully) Swinnerton and John L. Swinnerton. He and his younger brother John Richard (Dick) spent a lot of their early years at their grandparent’s farm during the Great Depression, and then spent summers there, once the family moved to Jamestown, NY when Jerry’s father secured a job drafting houses. Jerry was influenced by these experiences on the farm, later writing short stories and the poem, “A Six-Year-Old’s Spring Plowing” as a result of those fond memories.

Jerry’s mother had taught math until she married, and Jerry’s father worked his way up, learning on the job, from construction draftsman to being a supervisor of other architects with the Bureau of Standards with the US Government in Washington DC. The family lived in Capital View, MD, which is near Washington DC. Their first home was surrounded by woods, affording Dick and Jerry many adventures with a rope swing, as well as misadventures riding down the surrounding hills in a hand-cart their father built.

Later the family moved to Silver Springs, MD, where Jerry joined Boy Scout Troop 212. Jerry writes that this was “My greatest source of joy and adventure as an adolescent…highlighted by a close relationship with Mr. Pease the scoutmaster and his three sons, also enthusiastic scout members.” Camping trips included traveling to surrounding states, as well as to Key West, Florida, sleeping and cooking on beaches all the way down and back. Years later, Jerry attended the 50th wedding anniversary for Mr. Pease and his wife, penning the ballad, “A Tribute to Art and Thelma Pease on Their 50th” describing many of their adventures.

When Jerry was 14, the family moved to a larger home in Forest Glen MD, where he and Dick spent hours in the local swimming hole at Rock Creek Park. Sometime during these early years, he had a beloved dog, Spotty, whom he wrote about later.

Jerry was eligible for the draft for Korea, but enlisted in the army and was stationed in Washington State. At one point he was on inventory duty and they were about to be audited, and they found they had an extra jeep. His commanding officer panicked, and had Jerry and several other men bury the entire jeep in the desert, where it still is buried to this day.

Jerry used the GI Bill to complete his schooling, earning a Masters in Social Work from Florida State University in 1959. He obtained a position working in the mental health field in California, where he met his first wife, Emily (Chesmore Fletcher), at a church single’s group. Emily was divorced and had a little girl, Heidi. After they married, Jerry adopted Heidi. Jerry and Emily then welcomed a daughter, Suzanne.

In 1967 the family left Pomona California, and moved to Pueblo, Colorado. There, they adopted a baby boy, Deryk. They continued the tradition of camping that Jerry grew up with, spending time in the Colorado Rockies and Cripple Creek, southwest of Colorado Springs, near Pike’s Peak.

In 1973, the family moved to Caldwell, Idaho, buying a house in the countryside, which afforded the opportunity to have chickens, cats, dogs, rabbits, a large garden, a ditch and canals with wild fruit and berries, and corresponding adventures. Shortly after their move there, a cow followed Suzanne and Deryk home from the bus stop, and would not leave the driveway. They had never met a cow before, and called Jerry at work, asking what to do. The family continued traditions of walks after dinner, and of camping trips all over Idaho, bouncing along in their small teardrop trailer.

When the children were grown, Jerry and Emily moved to Prosser, and then to Grandview, Washington. There, Emily asked for a divorce, and wanted to go to her mountains in Montana. Jerry stayed in Washington and after a bout of dating, met Betty Paul, the love of his life. They spent many happy years together playing music, traveling, canoeing and camping. Jerry had played harmonica and piano all his life, and Betty and her family could play anything with strings. Jerry’s most favorite activity, however, was to walk across the street to the neighborhood pool and to swim every day.

Jerry worked in the mental health field all his adult life, mostly counseling adults and families. After reaching retirement age, Jerry continued with private practice and as a men’s Anger Management Specialist at the Coyote Ridge Prison in Connell WA, until he was 80.

Betty and Jerry both were actively involved in the Shalom United Church of Christ, and in the Central United Protestant Church in Tri-Cities, Washington. When Jerry retired from the mental health field, he joined the Stevens Minister program at the Central United Church as a volunteer. He then discovered that prayer combined with his counseling skills had an exponential effect on those he was trying to help, albeit in a wide variety of situations, and said had he known this, he would have employed the combination years ago. He wrote a paper, “Practice and Power of Prayer” in response to these experiences.

Betty passed on in May of 2024, and Jerry moved to Lakeview Assisted Living in Lincoln City, Oregon, near daughter Suzanne and grandson Caidan. He struggled with his memory more at that point, but could still beat anyone at Chinese Checkers. He played piano, read avidly, loved the lakes and ocean and deer and his special hummingbird that would visit outside his window. He insisted on getting to church, and would pour through his Bible notes. Even as he grew tired, he had a quick wit. He announced that he loved to swim so much that when he died, he wanted to die with his swimsuit on! During Jerry’s last months with us, he spoke often of swimming off the coast of Florida, where he visited with his scout troop, and where he later attended graduate school.

Jerry will be deeply missed, but we have faith that he has been welcomed by his beloved Betty, his brother Dick, his parents, his mentor Mr. Pease of Troop 212, and by his dog Spotty. Jerry is survived by his children Heidi, Suzanne and Deryk, his first wife Emily, his sister-in-law Mary Anna, multiple grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as by Betty’s daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We believe that he is enjoying his swimming, and is continuing to experience the light of Christ through the power of prayer.

Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 p.m. at Chapel by the Sea Presbyterian Church in Lincoln City, Oregon, on June 28, 2025.