Roy Swarringin, Sr.
December 11, 1940 - August 4, 2023
Obituary
Roy Swarringin Sr. was born in Alton, Illinois on December 11, 1940. He grew up there, met Carol Elizabeth Young and they married in September of 1961. They had 3 children, Roy Swarringin, JR, Judy Swarringin, and Lee R. Swarringin. In 1968 he decided to move his family to Seattle, Washington, where they had two more children, John A. Swarringin, and Tammy E. Swarringin.
In 1971 Carol and Roy parted ways, but remained close friends until her passing in 1986. He met the love of his life, his soulmate, Sherry May Jones in late 1971. They were married on June 26, 1980 and had 44 wonderful years together until she passed away on July 30, 2015.
Roy worked at Boeing Aerospace. He worked as an airplane painter until it caused health issues and he was re-located. He became the lead custodian until he retired in 1995. He supported his family so Sherry was able to be a stay-at-home mom, which really meant a lot to Dad. Roy and Sherry were very close and they were always together. They enjoyed many trips over to Shelton, Washington, and enjoyed weekends spent with family and friends.
Roy loved the holidays more than anything, and he loved his turkey! He was very fond of potlucks. His favorite pub was The Locker Room Bar and Grill, where he loved to play pool with mom. She always managed to beat him at his game every time, but knowing how much Dad loved her, I am sure that played in her winning all the time. He loved backyard BBQ’s with family and friends, and he loved to draw and paint. He passed this talent on to his daughter, Judy, and grand-daughters. He was always so proud to teach them all he knew. He loved working on and tinkering with his trucks and cars and always made sure to paint his and Mom’s names on them. He wanted the world to know that he was in love and that love showed in everything he did. He worked graveyard and weekdays, he would be heading to work as his children were coming home from school. Sundays meant a lot to Dad, it was the day that he could be with his children, share a bountiful Sunday dinner, and a good Sunday movie to follow.
He was not a strict father; he trusted and loved his children to make the right choices and this love generated into all of them. He was loved by many of his children’s friends and numerous people knew him as Pops or Dad. Dad always said the more the merrier, and he never had a problem of putting out an additional plate (which always usually was 2–3) for them to come join us for dinner. Everyone loved him, and everyone was always at our white house. There were many memories that were created that dad still talked about until the time of his death. He loved with all of his heart. At times there was not much to go around, but Dad never turned away anyone in need or who stopped by at dinner time, it was just who he was.
He loved his whiskey and he loved the shows, Sha Na Na and Happy Days. He loved “Fonzie”. After a few of his whiskey and Cokes dad would always imitate Fonzie with the gesture of both his thumbs in the air.
He loved when his family came to visit us in Seattle, and loved to show them around town. The days before their arrival dad would have us all scrubbing and getting ready for these much-anticipated visits. It was the only true times our house had to be in order. Having such a large household order was not something that was possible, but dad made it sure was possible on these visits…all hands on deck as he would say. The house would probably stay in order about a day after they were here and then back to the usual chaos.
Dad and mom spent many happy years together and we always say that on the day of her passing the light that had shown in his eyes faded that day, and it faded every day until the time of his passing. We always say there was the Dad with Mom, and the Dad after. He tried to hide his pain and his loneliness after losing Mom, but we could all see that he was hurting deeply and the sadness in his eyes was seen by all. He remained with us for another 8 years after losing Mom and on August 4th he reached out one last time to take her hand and went to join her in Heaven.
We will be having a celebration of Dad’s life on Saturday, September 23, 2023 at the White Center Eagles from 1-4 PM and would love for you to come celebrate him, share stories, and just remember this loving wonderful man we all called Dad.
His last wish was for a celebration of his life, accompanied by his favorite thing, a potluck. We would love for you to bring a favorite dish, or even one that you knew Dad liked.
Dad was preceded in death by his wife, Sherry Swarringin, oldest son Roy Laverne Swarringin, parents, Lee R. Swarringin and Ina Swarringin, brothers Paul Swarringin, Lee Roy Swarringin, Charles Casten, his favorite cousin David Swarringin, his grandson Justin Lee Graph, granddaughter Alicia Haag, great grandson Gage Paul, and great granddaughter Winter Haag.
I will miss you always handsome! Your warm smile and infectious laugh will live in my heart forever. I’ll see you on the other side ❤️
Rita Rodriguez
Your Dad was a great man. I will miss him so much ❤️ his heart ❤️ was so loving and he made me feel like a part of the family.
My heart is so broken 💔 right now.
Judy, you did a great job on this tribute to your Dad. This brought tears to my eyes. I love you ❤️ and your family. My thoughts and prayers 🙏 are with you all.
Such a lovely obituary. He will be missed.
Audrey Reasy