Kenneth R. Swanson

Kenneth Roy Swanson (Ken) died December 30, 2024 in Dublin, Ohio. He was born to Hilda Salmen Swanson and Roy Walter Swanson in Ashtabula, Ohio on April 21, 1937. America’s Depression had a profound effect on Ken’s formative years. His work ethic developed early and by the time he was 10, he had a weekly paper route. During his high school and college years he drove a Pepsi Cola truck and worked on the Ashtabula docks where coal was offloaded from Lake Erie ore boats. Ever the athlete, he always found time for sports, including track, baseball, softball, football, golf, tennis and bowling. He lettered in basketball and track in high school, running the 440 and the mile and half mile relays.

He majored in industrial management/engineering at The Ohio State University and received his B.S. in 1961. He then joined the United States Air Force and received a commission via Officers’ Training School. After additional training at Supply Officers’ School, he was transferred to RAF Bentwaters, Suffolk, England, where he met Gloria, the love of his life. They were married in 1962 and their only child, Stephen, was born the following year. The young family returned to the U.S. in 1964 to an assignment at Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota. In 1966 Ken entered civilian life as an industrial engineer at Westinghouse in Columbus, Ohio. It was at Westinghouse that he was given the opportunity to join the fledgling field of data processing, training as a systems analyst. He spent his remaining work years in information technology, retiring from Ross Labs, a division of Abbott Laboratories, in 1999.

In 1977, he obtained his MBA from Capital University at age 40. In a 5-year span during his 50s he wrote five books, four on trade association histories, and one on physical fitness. After retirement, in 2013, he completed a history of Port Royal Plantation. He was an accomplished photographer and a book collector, notably of World War II history.

He served his Columbus, Ohio community with memberships in numerous civic and volunteer organizations including the Columbus Marathon and Sertoma. After retirement to Hilton Head in 2001, he increased his community participation, serving on the Port Royal Plans Approval Board and as president of the Port Royal Golf Club. He converted to Catholicism and became a member of St. Francis Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus.

Ken loved to travel and set a goal to visit at least 100 countries, a feat he accomplished (actually 101) with Gloria in 2019. He was a man of quiet physical strength who rarely lost his temper. Always competitive, he played to win. His loyalty to his favorite sports teams (Ohio State Buckeyes, Cleveland Indians--he refused to call them Guardians--and Cleveland Browns) was unswerving.

In December 2022 he and Gloria returned to his Ohio roots to be near family. They settled into Dublin Retirement Village and quickly adopted DRV’s active lifestyle until his failing heart failed him.

Survivors include Gloria, his wife of 62 years; son Steve (Olieda) of Dublin, Ohio, grandsons, Jonathan, Dublin, OH, and Jake, Hilliard, OH, and first cousin Robert (Nancy) Tienvieri, Hudsonville, MI. A funeral Mass will be scheduled at a later date.