Hinton Wooddy Swearingen

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Hinton Wooddy Swearingen, 75, died peacefully at his home on Nov. 30, 2012.

He was born on Sept. 21, 1937, in Nevada, Mo., the son of John Wallace Swearingen and Josephine Jackson Swearingen. On Oct. 8, 1960, he married Virginia "Ginger" Stafford who preceded him in death.

Mr. Swearingen graduated from Nevada High School in 1955 then attended the University of Missouri. He graduated with a bachelor of science in business administration in 1959. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and served as president and, as an alumnus, served as House Corporation president. He was commissioned by the U.S. Army Reserves in 1959 at Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla., and retired as a captain in 1964. Mr. and Mrs. Swearingen lived in Nevada, Mo., where he worked with his father and brother in the family owned business, First National Bank of Nevada, Mo., until 1973. The Swearingens enjoyed restoring their old Victorian home and were members of All Saints Episcopal Church.

Mr. Swearingen moved his family to Sedalia, Mo., and began working with his father-in-law, Elliot "Sonny" Stafford, at J.A. Lamy Manufacturing and became president in 1991. Later he became president of Elliot Management Services Co. He had great joy in working with his sons, Stafford McKee Swearingen and John Reid Swearingen.

His involvement in Nevada included being owner and board member of First National Bank of Nevada, chairman of the American Red Cross, and memberships in the Stultz Hunting Club and the Nevada Country Club. In Sedalia, he was a director of Mercantile Bank, trustee of The Heard Memorial Club House and a member of the Sedalia Country Club. His interests included golf, bird hunting, model train collecting with his grandchildren, genealogy and extensive travel across the globe. He was an avid MU basketball fan and rarely missed a home MU football game.

Surviving family members are sons, Stafford McKee Swearingen and his wife, Gena, and John Reid Swearingen and his wife, Lori, of Sedalia, Mo.; siblings, David Jackson Swearingen and his wife, Susan, of Nevada, Mo., and Margaret Swearingen Mordy and her husband, Ronald, of Independence, Kan.; grandchildren, Kathleen Elizabeth Ryan, Brenton James Ryan, Glen Reid Swearingen, Sara Linden Swearingen and Stafford Hawkins Swearingen.

The body was cremated. A private family inurnment will take place at a later date at Crown Hill Cemetery in Sedalia.

A memorial service will be held at Calvary Episcopal Church, 713 S. Ohio, Sedalia, at 10 a.m., on Saturday, Dec. 15, with the Rev. Bill McVey officiating.

The family will receive friends from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 14, at McLaughlin Funeral Chapel, 519 S. Ohio, Sedalia, MO 65301.

Memorial contributions may be made to Calvary Episcopal Church, or Bothwell Foundation Cancer Services Fund in care of McLaughlin Funeral Chapel.

Condolences may be offered online at www.mclaughlinfuneralchapel.com.