Mary [Good] Swineford

Mary [Good] Swineford

Funeral service for Mary Good Swineford, 97, of Chickasha, Oklahoma will be held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at the First Presbyterian Church of Chickasha.

Mary Good Swineford was born December 18, 1909 in Chickasha, Oklahoma the daughter of J.C. and Belle (Leonard) Good and passed away February 23, 2007 in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

Mary was the apple of her mother's eye, who had wanted a daughter, her previous child having been a son. After graduating from Chickasha High School at the age of 16 years, Mary entered OCW. Four years later, she graduated, having in her hands a life high school certificate to teach. She had earned the bachelor of arts degree with 24 hours of mathematics (her declared major) and 42 hours of French (her declared minor) and an invitation from President M.A. Nash to be the first fulltime assistant in OCW's business office.

That summer she traveled to Cloud Croft, New Mexico, with her English-journalism teacher, Dr. Ruth Pray. (Mary had been editor of the college newspaper, The Trend, in her junior year.) At Cloud Croft, Mary was business manager for the Campfire Girl's camp.

After her return from Cloud Croft, Garner Collums, bursar, began turning over OCW's bookkeeping and the running of the non-profit College Book Store to his "chief clerk".

On December 25, 1938, she and Derald Thomas Swineford were married. A year later, they moved to Wichita, Kansas for a semester while Derald taught art classes at the University of Wichita. That summer, Canyon, Texas welcomed the Swinefords, and it was here that Derald taught art until May 20, 1942. Six months after Pearl Harbor Day, Derald was called into overseas service. Sixteen months prior to this Derald and Mary celebrated New Year's Eve by becoming parents of their first son. When Derald left to set up air bases in Africa, Mary and son, Tom, settled back in Chickasha. For the next two years, Mary again kept OCW's books, while Tom attended the college's nursery school. They next moved to Love Field, Dallas, for six months, marking Mary's only experience as an Air Force wife at a base.

Their second, John, arrived February 12, 1945; Derald finished his master's degree at OU, and the family returned to Canyon, Texas.

In September of the following year, they came back to OCW to stay. The next May, Jeter Sneed asked Mary to take back her old job in the business office.

Because of her abilities to get things done, Mary was referred to as "93 pounds of dynamite". Other than her job, her life was centered around her husband and sons. Both of her sons were outstanding athletes and two of her greatest thrills centered around seeing both compete in All-State highschool games in Tulsa, Tom in football, John in baseball. She also enjoyed many camping vacations with her husband and sons.

Swimming, hiking, bicycling and horseback riding were among her favorite sports. She also had a reputation as an outstanding square and folk dancer. In her mid seventies, she was the leader of the Senior Citizens exercise group at the Chickasha Senior Citizen Center.

She was active in the Beta Mother's Club during the years John and Tom were OU students and served as secretary and vice-president at the Chickasha High School All-Sports Mother's Club while her sons were in high school.

She was a lifetime member of the First Presbyterian Church.

Mary was preceded in death by: Husband: Derald Thomas Swineford; Her parents; one sister: E.B. Powers, to whom Mary referred "my best friend for 86 years" three brothers: Leonard Phelps Good, Calvin Favorite Good, and infant brother, David Good.

Survivors include: two sons: Tom Swineford and wife Jan of Gunnison, Colorado; John Swineford of Chico, California; two grandchildren: Scott Swineford and wife Tracy of Aurora, Illinois; Stu Swineford and wife Rachel of Rollinsville, Colorado; three great-grandchildren: Jake Swineford, Kailey Swineford and Christian Swineford.

Interment will be in the Rose Hill Cemetery under the direction of Sevier Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Dearld Swineford Art Scholarship Fund of USAO or the First Presbyterian Church of Chickasha.