Patrick Henry Swearingen Jr. ’45

Harry died June 14, 2021, at his home in San Antonio, Texas. For all but the last few months of his 97 years, he enjoyed good health and mobility, always a notable fixture in the gym in his button-down shirt and khakis. 

He arrived at Princeton only months before Dec. 7, 1941. Like his classmates, he stepped up to defend against the existential threat of tyranny, serving in the nosecone of a B-25 in the Army Air Corps. It humbled him that one in 28 classmates gave his life. He treasured his Princeton experience and remained close with his roommate Jim Calvert until Jim passed in April 2021.

After the war he returned to Princeton and graduated in 1947 with election to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1950 he graduated from the University of Texas School of Law. He returned to San Antonio, joined the law firm where he would spend the next 65 years, and married Gail Hall, who predeceased him in 2004. 

Relationships mattered to Harry, and he invested in them until his final hours. At his 25th Princeton reunion, he reminisced: “Coming then from an 11-year public school system, I was preoccupied with making it academically. Then war tore up our class and we returned in dribbles as veterans in a hurry. Next time I would worry more about friends and being involved in the many activities.” He valued community service and made a meaningful difference in the lives of many. In recent years, he championed Dreamers who he felt could do much good for the country if given a chance.

Harry is survived by his three children, Sidney ’78, Susan, and Patrick ’84, and their spouses; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.