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Newburyport and Vero Beach, Fla.. — Swift Churchill Barnes Jr. died on November 12 in South Yarmouth, MA. He was 93. A longtime resident of Yarmouth Port, Swift lived previously in Barnstable, Newburyport, and Vero Beach, Fla.
Swift received his BA from Dartmouth College, class of 1942. As for many of his generation, his studies were interrupted by World War II. He enrolled in Navy’s V7 officer program in 1940 and was assigned to the Pacific Fleet in 1941. He served on various ships, including the heavy cruiser Salt Lake City. A memoir of his war years began, “1941 was a great year for me, a pivotal year. 21 years old, with no family responsibilities, my whole life ahead of me. I had life by the tail.” This exuberance of the young man never waned.
In late 1942 Swift cabled Virginia Vose, his high school sweetheart, to meet him in San Francisco, where they were married during a shore leave. They were to have celebrated their 70th anniversary on November 20.
A stint at Harvard Law School solidified Swift’s entrepreneurial ambitions. He returned to Hanover, N.H. where he earned his MBA from The Tuck School of Business in 1948. Swift made a career in the silverware business, as owner of Old Newbury Crafters, a small, respected producer of hand wrought sterling silver flatware & holloware, located in Newburyport.
Swift embraced life with spirit and an irrepressible intellectual curiosity. Patriot, seaman, musician, philanthropist, volunteer, he was first and foremost a devoted son, brother, husband, father, uncle, grandfather and friend. His wife Ginnie; daughters, Gina and Betsy; son, Swift and grandchildren Sara, Alexander and Parker celebrate his long and exceptional life.
“Etiam in morte, superest amor – “
ARRANGEMENTS: At Swift’s request, there will be no memorial service.
