Obituary of William Allen Swanson

William Allen Swanson A bright light went out on Monday morning, August 6, when beloved college teacher and devoted family man Bill Swanson passed away in his home. William Allen Swanson was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1950-the first child of Goodrun Catherine (Soley) and Allen Carlin Swanson. When Bill was seven, the family moved to the San Francisco Bay area, finally settling in San Mateo, California, where Bill attended high school. He completed his education at San Jose State University, earning a BA and MA degree in English composition and literature. At San Jose State, Bill met Lynda Barbour, another English major, who became his constant companion. Their partnership lasted throughout the remainder of Bill’s life. After college graduation, Bill served a brief stint doing manual labor at a fabric warehouse. Although he was tall and strong-6’4” and muscular-he preferred work that engaged his mind. Finally he secured a position at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, serving for ten years as the tutor supervisor in the Educational Diagnostic Clinic (EDC), a place where learning disabled and brain damaged students were tested, given individual learning plans, and assigned to a tutor. Bill hired and supervised the training of the tutors. Gradually he began to teach small group reading and writing classes within the EDC, in addition to his other tasks. Teaching quickly became Bill’s passion, and although he kept the full-time position as tutor supervisor for more that ten years, he taught evening classes in college writing, literature, humanities, and film at De Anza College and also at Canada Community College in Redwood City. At Canada College, Bill experimented with a new kind of teaching-team-teaching with a partner. He loved the dynamic it created in the classroom and continued to do it throughout the remainder of his career. His first teaching partner was Mike Nagler. Together Bill and Mike taught a creative writing class on Tuesday evenings and a film class on Thursday evenings at Canada College. Their partnership led to the publications of two collections of short stories, which they selected and introduced: Wives and Husbands (published in 1988) and Stolen Moments: Stories of Men, Women and Desire (1998). Unfortunately, both of these fine collections are now out of print. In 1986, the collaboration of Bill and Lynda resulted in a different kind of creation-a beautiful baby daughter, Samantha Gwyneth, The proud and happy parents decided to move their treasure to a more secure environment after the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. And in 1990, Bill accepted a position as full-time English and Humanities professor at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, where he taught for the rest of his career. He was a popular and respected teacher and colleague, known for his creative style of team-teaching and famous for his loud voice and big laugh. Teaching partners soon learned that if you had something really important you needed to communicate to the class on a given day, you’d better say it before Bill started talking-because the man could talk! But he also listened and was constantly being inspired by colleagues and by students. Bill loved his work and hated to have to stop teaching, but in March of 2004, an MRI revealed a large brain tumor. Surgery was unable to remove all of the tumor, and the part that remained was found to be cancerous. Bill proceeded bravely, his sense of humor intact, and went back to teaching in the fall of 2004. He was able to teach until November of 2006, when the brain tumor affected his mobility to such a degree that he could no longer do his job. Cared for at home, he surrounded himself with the things he loved: music, films, family members, and friends. He kept his spirits up and maintained a sense of humor until the end of his life. Bill was a proud and loving husband, father, brother, uncle, nephew and cousin. He loved spending time with this family, and he was happy to help them whenever he could-whether by coaching summer basketball and softball teams for Tumwater Recreation Department, or providing a “homework hotline” for his daughter, her friends, and his nieces. Enthusiastic about everything he did, Bill was a great collector of friends and things. In his boyhood, he collected baseball cards; as an adult he collected books, albums (LPs), CDs, and DVDs, amassing an impressive library of great ideas, music, and film. Of course, he could talk about any of the items in his library. He read and listened widely and had an amazing memory for details. And he could always make you laugh. But Bill Swanson was more than a smart, funny, well-rounded man; he was a great spirit. A man of energy and compassion, with a heart as big as his booming voice, he inspired all who knew him with his positive attitude and his warmth. He is survived by his wife, Lynda and daughter, Samantha; sister, Karen Swanson Hegarty and her husband Larry and daughters, Lisa and Kristina (beloved nieces); one aunt-Clara Soley Mann of Tacoma and cousins Kathy Mann Kube and Jerry Mann. Bill, we all loved you and will keep you in our hearts forever. A Celebration of Life service will be held for him on Saturday, August 11, at 3:30 p.m., in the Student Union Building at South Puget Sound Community College. For directions to the college go to: www.spscc.ctc.edu/about/visit/directions.html Please share your memories with the family by clicking on view guestbook