William Albert Swinney Sr.

“It has been a great adventure and continues to be a good adventure when I get up every morning, make a list of things to do, and view the dawning of a new day. It’s exciting as I pursue taking care of my written list prepared for accomplishment that day.” This is an excerpt from The Great Adventure by William A. Swinney, Sr.

William Albert Swinney, Sr. was born July 8, 1923, in Rogers, Texas to James R. Swinney and Bessie Garner Swinney. Bill went to be with our Lord on April 20, 2023, and had comfort in his salvation. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Robert Swinney and sister Garnett Grisham.

His early and teen years were spent in a hardscrabble lifestyle, moving between ranches and small towns in Central Texas and Mississippi. He was the oldest child and had great responsibility in sustaining the family in the difficulties of rural life during the Great Depression. As a child, Bill rode his horse for over four miles to school each day; there was a corral to keep students’ horses during the school day. When home, he chopped wood, milked cows, and completed his homework by kerosene lamp. During the Great Depression, there was a shortage of jobs, so his family moved frequently to find work. They were often cold and hungry. Bill helped as much as he could since his two siblings were seven and eight years younger than he was. His fortitude helped his siblings and parents persevere. Bill believed the tough times made him stronger. He was a born leader and served as Class President his junior and senior years at Wheeler, Mississippi high school.

While walking across campus to Chapel at Mississippi College, December 7, 1941, the loudspeakers announced that the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii had been bombed. Just seventeen years old, he went to Hawaii to help rebuild until he was old enough to enlist in the military. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps as a waist gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber, flying on missions in the Pacific against the Japanese occupation of China until the end of the war. He told stories about being colder than he could ever imagine at 25,000 feet above the earth in zero degree temperatures for 12 to 14 hours. After the War, he went to Old Miss. He also had two years of law school in Texas. Just last year, Bill, accompanied by some family and friends, visited an exhibit of a B-24 in San Marcos, Texas.

In 1948, he married Marjorie June Gustafson and soon began raising a family. Bill was a fitness advocate and created an extensive, backyard playground on the seven acres of land that surrounded his family home off Blanco Road in San Antonio. His children benefitted from summers spent pursuing water sports at their lake house on Lake LBJ. Bill worked hard and played hard. To afford an easier life for his children than he had experienced, he was a self-employed entrepreneur most of his life. From 1960 through the 1970s, he was a general contractor, mainly involved in building homes in and around San Antonio. In the 1980s, his business moved to the rural areas north of San Antonio and included commercial, metal warehouses. At the start of the 1990s, he began to engage in land development and real estate in Hays, Travis, Burnet, Milam, Fayette, Lee and Bastrop counties.

On April 14, 1990, he married Brenda Kennedy, his wife of 33 years. Their life together was recently documented in the April 2023 edition of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s, Decision Magazine . In the interview, Bill described Brenda by stating, “She has been a great influence on me.” He continued that she has inspired him to read his Bible, become active in church again, and supported him in his business endeavors. “Hallelujah Chorus” was among his favorite songs, and he loved to hear how Brenda, his Joycee, could stir his heart with her gloriously skilled, playing of marches and hymns on piano and organ. Together, Bill and Brenda adopted his great-grandchild, Scarlett. “It adds to my hope for 10 or 15 more years of life. I figure if I have responsibility, I’ve got to hang around.” He did not believe in the idea of retirement, and worked for as long as he was able. Most recently, Bill and Brenda have taken interest in a private, Christian school near their home and support scholarship opportunities for students.

William Albert Swinney, Sr. is survived by Brenda, his loving wife, all his children: sons, William A. (Chip) Swinney, Jr. (Phyllis), David Bruce Swinney, Scott Swinney (Patty), Brett James Swinney (Debbie), daughters Karla Swinney Keahey (Robert), Kathleen Swinney Parker (Brad), and Scarlett Lee Parker Swinney, and Brenda’s children, Jeff Kennedy (Brittney) and Scott Kennedy (Karen), 22 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by many friends who were like family.

Bill lived by the words he penned entitled, “Being an American.” He read this to family on July 8, 2020, on his 97 ^th birthday in his strongly resonant voice that, too, will be missed.

I do not wish to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon, if I can. I seek opportunity, not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take calculated risk, to dream and to build, to fail and succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence, the thrill of fulfillment to the state calm of utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence, nor dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master, nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid, to think and to act for myself, enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, “this I have done.”

All this is what it means to be an American!

A visitation will be held 6:00-8:00 PM Thursday, April 27,2023, Providence-Jones Family Funeral Home. A Celebration of Bill's Life will be held 10:00 AM Friday, April 28, 2023, Providence-Jones Family Funeral Home Chapel.

Graveside Services with Military Honors will be held 10:45 AM Monday, May 1, 2023, Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.