David L Swanson, 83

April 30, 2025

David L. Swanson was born in Stambaugh, Michigan on March 11, 1942. The oldest in a family of five children, Swanson grew up competing in sports and reading encyclopedias.

After an ideal small-town childhood of playing every kind of sport on Nelson Field, skiing behind the Lutheran Church and Brule Mountain, and polishing floors of the New Grace Covenant Church, he matriculated to North Park College (NPC) in Chicago with a National Merit Scholarship and an athletic scholarship.

At North Park College, Swanson became the starting quarterback in his first game as a freshman and held that position for all four seasons. He is still the only NPC Viking athlete to earn 12 varsity letters in football, basketball, tennis and track. During those four years he captained five teams.

Upon graduation with his Bachelor of Science, he entered graduate school at the Illinois Institute of Technology, majoring in experimental elementary particle physics. He did his thesis work at Argonne National Laboratory just outside Chicago. He graduated with his PhD in 1973.

Swanson married his college sweetheart, Linda Bothun, on June 19, 1965 and continued his graduate work while his wife worked to earn her PhT (Put hubby Through) degree. Upon graduating, his life took an unexpected turn. A college friend living in Washington DC helped Swanson to find a job with the ranking member of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. With his scientific background, Swanson rose quickly in the ranks of the House and Senate committee structure and in 1980 was offered a position in the Reagan White House as the Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs where he worked for three years.

Following the White House, Swanson worked at a law firm and as a Senior Vice President at the Edison Electric Institute.

During these years, he and the family restored and lived in two homes in DC. The first was in NE DC on Capitol Hill and the second was in the NW DC neighborhood of Forest Hills.

Swanson retired in 2004 and moved to a golfing community near Beckley, West Virginia. He and Linda enjoyed 15 years in this marvelous setting. In 2019, they moved to the Moravian Manor senior care facility in Lititz, PA to be near their daughter, Ana and her family who live in Lancaster.

Swanson leaves behind his wife, Linda, his daughter, Ana and her husband Michael and their son Oskar living in Lancaster, PA, and his son Jonathan who lives in Greensboro, NC.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 10, 2025 at Moravian Manor, 300 W Lemon St, Lititz, PA 17543 beginning at 2pm that all are welcome to attend.