Jim and Rena Swick lost their lives on December 29, 1963 in the Hotel Roosevelt fire in Jacksonville, Florida. He was 59, and she was 47. It was a second marriage for both; they had each previously lost their spouses due to illness.
Jim was born in Dalton, Georgia, in 1904. The family moved to Orlando when Jim was about 10 years old and lived there for only a few years before moving to a farm outside of Climax, Georgia.
Jim dropped out of school in the eighth grade to help support the family. He once told a friend about the time when he was plowing cotton with a mule and saw a tobacco salesman pass on the road at the end of the cotton row, and said, "Someday, I am going to be a salesman!" He accomplished this and a whole lot more.
Jim moved his family to Bainbridge, Georgia, and opened a market which he operated until 1938 when it closed. He had extended too much credit to people during the depression who could not repay him. He then went to work with Georgia Packing Company, which later became Sunnyland Packing Company.
In 1948 he moved to Alachua, Florida, to manage the Copeland Sausage Company, Inc. and became president of the company a year later. His love for the business made him very successful. He was a leader in the meat packing industry and was a member of the American Meat Institute, the National Independent Meat Packers Association, and President of the Florida Meat Packers Association. He also served on the Board of Directors at different times. He was a charter member of the Gator Boosters, a Rotarian, a member of Gainesville Lodge #990, B.P.O.E., and a member of the Baptist Church.
He loved his fellow man and saw the worth of a person. Jim was always willing to go a step beyond to aid someone in distress. He believed everyone deserved a chance and believed in the Golden Rule. Rena Swick was a close personal friend of the Winn Dixie Davis family. Even though Rena had no children of her own, she was very loving and caring to Jim's family, his children and grandchildren.
Jim was a wonderful man, father and grandfather. He is survived by three children, Sarah Swick Lipham, Martha Swick Alday, and James Henry Swick, twelve grandchildren and twenty five great grandchildren.
Jim was born in Dalton, Georgia, in 1904. The family moved to Orlando when Jim was about 10 years old and lived there for only a few years before moving to a farm outside of Climax, Georgia.
Jim dropped out of school in the eighth grade to help support the family. He once told a friend about the time when he was plowing cotton with a mule and saw a tobacco salesman pass on the road at the end of the cotton row, and said, "Someday, I am going to be a salesman!" He accomplished this and a whole lot more.
Jim moved his family to Bainbridge, Georgia, and opened a market which he operated until 1938 when it closed. He had extended too much credit to people during the depression who could not repay him. He then went to work with Georgia Packing Company, which later became Sunnyland Packing Company.
In 1948 he moved to Alachua, Florida, to manage the Copeland Sausage Company, Inc. and became president of the company a year later. His love for the business made him very successful. He was a leader in the meat packing industry and was a member of the American Meat Institute, the National Independent Meat Packers Association, and President of the Florida Meat Packers Association. He also served on the Board of Directors at different times. He was a charter member of the Gator Boosters, a Rotarian, a member of Gainesville Lodge #990, B.P.O.E., and a member of the Baptist Church.
He loved his fellow man and saw the worth of a person. Jim was always willing to go a step beyond to aid someone in distress. He believed everyone deserved a chance and believed in the Golden Rule. Rena Swick was a close personal friend of the Winn Dixie Davis family. Even though Rena had no children of her own, she was very loving and caring to Jim's family, his children and grandchildren.
Jim was a wonderful man, father and grandfather. He is survived by three children, Sarah Swick Lipham, Martha Swick Alday, and James Henry Swick, twelve grandchildren and twenty five great grandchildren.
Jim and Rena Swick lost their lives on December 29, 1963 in the Hotel Roosevelt fire in Jacksonville, Florida. He was 59, and she was 47. It was a second marriage for both; they had each previously lost their spouses due to illness.
Jim was born in Dalton, Georgia, in 1904. The family moved to Orlando when Jim was about 10 years old and lived there for only a few years before moving to a farm outside of Climax, Georgia.
Jim dropped out of school in the eighth grade to help support the family. He once told a friend about the time when he was plowing cotton with a mule and saw a tobacco salesman pass on the road at the end of the cotton row, and said, "Someday, I am going to be a salesman!" He accomplished this and a whole lot more.
Jim moved his family to Bainbridge, Georgia, and opened a market which he operated until 1938 when it closed. He had extended too much credit to people during the depression who could not repay him. He then went to work with Georgia Packing Company, which later became Sunnyland Packing Company.
In 1948 he moved to Alachua, Florida, to manage the Copeland Sausage Company, Inc. and became president of the company a year later. His love for the business made him very successful. He was a leader in the meat packing industry and was a member of the American Meat Institute, the National Independent Meat Packers Association, and President of the Florida Meat Packers Association. He also served on the Board of Directors at different times. He was a charter member of the Gator Boosters, a Rotarian, a member of Gainesville Lodge #990, B.P.O.E., and a member of the Baptist Church.
He loved his fellow man and saw the worth of a person. Jim was always willing to go a step beyond to aid someone in distress. He believed everyone deserved a chance and believed in the Golden Rule. Rena Swick was a close personal friend of the Winn Dixie Davis family. Even though Rena had no children of her own, she was very loving and caring to Jim's family, his children and grandchildren.
Jim was a wonderful man, father and grandfather. He is survived by three children, Sarah Swick Lipham, Martha Swick Alday, and James Henry Swick, twelve grandchildren and twenty five great grandchildren.
Jim was born in Dalton, Georgia, in 1904. The family moved to Orlando when Jim was about 10 years old and lived there for only a few years before moving to a farm outside of Climax, Georgia.
Jim dropped out of school in the eighth grade to help support the family. He once told a friend about the time when he was plowing cotton with a mule and saw a tobacco salesman pass on the road at the end of the cotton row, and said, "Someday, I am going to be a salesman!" He accomplished this and a whole lot more.
Jim moved his family to Bainbridge, Georgia, and opened a market which he operated until 1938 when it closed. He had extended too much credit to people during the depression who could not repay him. He then went to work with Georgia Packing Company, which later became Sunnyland Packing Company.
In 1948 he moved to Alachua, Florida, to manage the Copeland Sausage Company, Inc. and became president of the company a year later. His love for the business made him very successful. He was a leader in the meat packing industry and was a member of the American Meat Institute, the National Independent Meat Packers Association, and President of the Florida Meat Packers Association. He also served on the Board of Directors at different times. He was a charter member of the Gator Boosters, a Rotarian, a member of Gainesville Lodge #990, B.P.O.E., and a member of the Baptist Church.
He loved his fellow man and saw the worth of a person. Jim was always willing to go a step beyond to aid someone in distress. He believed everyone deserved a chance and believed in the Golden Rule. Rena Swick was a close personal friend of the Winn Dixie Davis family. Even though Rena had no children of her own, she was very loving and caring to Jim's family, his children and grandchildren.
Jim was a wonderful man, father and grandfather. He is survived by three children, Sarah Swick Lipham, Martha Swick Alday, and James Henry Swick, twelve grandchildren and twenty five great grandchildren.
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