DAVISON "BUD" SWING Born December 20, 1914, in Riverside, CA, passed away peacefully surrounded by two generations of family members on October 8, 2009, in Tucson, AZ. The Swings settled in the San Bernardino Valley in the 1860s, making Bud a third generation Californian. His father, George Washington Swing, older brother of former State Senator Ralph Swing and former U.S. Congressman Phil Swing, came to Riverside to raise his family after marrying Bertha Davison in 1908, and there they became active in the First Baptist Church. Bud had two older sisters, Marion Goodwin, who passed away on September 8 of this year, and Juanita ("Tot") Budde who passed away in 2000. He attended Lincoln Elementary School, Grant Junior High School (which was for boys only at the time), Poly High, and Riverside City College. Bud married Betty Jane Warnes (B.J.) on September 8, 1940, who preceded him in passing away on March 7, 2008. They are survived by their three daughters, Suzanne Howard of Issaquah, WA, Barbara Hutchinson of Tucson, AZ, and Cynthia Swing of Riverside, as well as five grandchildren and three great-grandsons. Bud, whose nickname was given him by Marion, led a full and interesting life. His adventures have become the most endearing and enduring stories in the family. As early as age seven, Bud was teaching himself to drive and learning how cars worked. Before he was a teenager, he taught his father to drive. Bud spent most of his life building, designing, and repairing cars, motorcycles, and other machines, as well as fixing all manner of household appliances for the entire family. He also tinkered with and flew early airplanes. His daughters remember well many exhilarating rides along the Gage Canal and elsewhere on the back of his 1940s Indian Scout. Throughout his life and until his eyesight failed, he and fellow motorcycle enthusiasts would take their "fall colors" and other trips throughout the West, at times also venturing into Canada and Mexico. Bud also was known for his 1954 Corvette in which he installed a Cadillac engine in 1956 to improve its performance, and for his early love of the radio which led in later life to becoming a ham radio operator. Bud was a great hiker and climber who loved nothing better than being out in nature and enjoying panoramic views. During his last days he still commented on sunsets, cloud formations, and the beauty of the moonrise. As a young man, Bud climbed to the top of every peak in Southern California, and for his 60th birthday he hiked Mt. Whitney in a day. During the 1920s, he and a young friend also climbed (often unauthorized) to the top of every significant building in Riverside. Bud was notorious for the speed he could walk and hike and for his knowledge of early Southern California history and many of its more unusual historical spots - former stream sawmills, narrow-gauge railroad beds, and the remains of ghost towns. Some of his more colorful stories came from the year he operated a gas station, tire, and mechanic shop in Rice, CA (circa 1934-35) to serve the builders of the Colorado River Aqueduct in the Mojave Desert. These stories brought the names of Slim Riffle and his Owl Cafe (saloon), Cactus Kate, and Seldom Seen Slim into family lore. Soon after this experience, Bud began to work with Joe Hunter, and later Ed Hunter, on building machinery for the production of Venetian blinds - first wooden, then steel, and finally aluminum. His early specialty was the development of paint lines for continuous coating and then, in 1942-43, the tooling and production of war-related sub-contracted aircraft parts. During the War, Bud worked at a Navy primary school in Safford, AZ as an engine and aircraft mechanic. He had planned to fly for the Navy but revised flight hour and age requirements eliminated him from consideration, causing him to join the Merchant Marine as an engineer. Upon his return to Riverside, he rejoined with what had by then become Hunter Douglas, Inc., and spent the rest of his career affiliated with that company in some capacity. In 1958, Bud went to work officially for Hunter Douglas International, which is based in Holland. This began 30 years of acting as their technical director and setting up factories in New Zealand, Colombia, Chile, and Venezuela, and servicing factories in Australia, Canada, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, and Japan. It also provided opportunities for the family to live in Holland and to travel extensively throughout Europe. For Bud, though, international work gave him the chance to continue his wanderings around the world and he never failed to take advantage of opportunities for side trips to places like Tahiti, Bora-Bora, India, and even Russia at the height of the Cold War. Although Bud's last decade or so was marred by set-backs in his health that limited his mobility and memory, he remained good-natured to the end, always wanting to help and to be of as little trouble as possible. During his last year, family members spent time with him each day, enjoying the music he always loved, singing "oldies" especially cowboy songs and the Poly High fight song, sharing meals, reading books to him, taking drives through the desert, enjoying ice cream cones, and sharing well-loved memories like the amazing antics of his beloved cat, Fritzie, and the summers the extended Swing family spent together at Oceanside. The passing of Bud is an end of an era, and he is already deeply missed by those who knew him well. Bud's life will be celebrated by the family in private memorials and through preparation of a memory book. He will be interred next to his wife of 67 years in Riverside. For those who wish to honor Bud's memory, donations may be made to Casa de la Luz Foundation (hospice), 400 W. Magee Road, Tucson, AZ 85704, or to The Nature Conservancy, 1-800-628-6860.
Published in Press-Enterprise on Nov. 6, 2009