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Reflect on the life of this Family Man, Civil Rights Activist, Pastor & Community Leader
A Message from Pastor Sadie
This season we had to say goodbye to Rev. Dr. Gene Swanson who was the first settled pastor to serve Harbor at our current location on Irvine Ave. He served for many years and shared life with the community at Harbor. Shortly after the pandemic, Gene made his way back to Harbor by reaching out to me through Facebook. We arranged a meeting which turned out to be a meaningful moment for both of us. That meeting led to a beautiful gift of one of Gene’s paintings to the church which now lives on the wall of The Quick Contemplative Corner. Having Gene in our community these last years has been a blessing to all of us, and it was a blessing to him as well. On November 3, 2024, we memorialized Rev. Dr. Gene Swanson. Some in our community were unable to attend that memorial service and so we wanted to share the eulogy written by Gene’s son, Jay that does a beautiful job showing the breadth and depth of our dear Pastor Gene. We’ll miss you, Gene! But we know that you are still with us, surrounding us as part of the communion of saints. We love you and we give thanks for you!
Rev. Dr. Gene Swanson’s Eulogy
Written by Jay Swanson
There were two Gene Swansons. There was the warm, generous, caring Gene. And there was Gene the fighter.
Gene had a personalized license plate that read: PEECB2U (peace be to you) which was symbolic of how he felt and who he was, but at the same time, when driving out of Dodger Stadium traffic or in heavy traffic he would not let anyone in front of him and get very annoyed if even one car tried to get in front of him. If asked, “What are you doing?” He’d say, “I grew up in LA. I know what I’m doing.”
Born in LA in 1933 during the worst of the Great Depression he was raised mostly by his mother, Elsie, whose life had been unusually tragic. Elsie’s best friend had died suddenly from illness their senior year of high school. Two years later in Los Angeles, Elsie was walking home from work with her own mother. As they crossed the street in front of a streetcar, the heel from her mom’s boot got caught in the streetcar track in the street and her mother was killed instantly by the streetcar. Gene’s mom was devastated.
Early in the 1930s, Gene’s dad had no work in LA due to the depression so he decided to take the family back to Nebraska where he had worked on a farm as a teenager. “At least we will have some food to eat from the farm,” was the idea. When they got to Nebraska the droughts and the dust bowl days had begun. There were no crops and there was no food to eat. They returned to LA along with over 400,000 other Americans who fled the dust bowls of the midwest as told in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
In 1944 when Gene was 11-years-old, his dad died in a car crash. This final blow was too much for his mom to handle. Her personality changed and she became bitter and depressed. It was an unhappy home with little empathy. Gene saw education and his Christian faith as his way out and focused on school work and being active in the church youth group. As a senior in high school he was senior class president and he won a $1500 first prize in a national architectural drawing competition (that is $17,000 in today’s money). Gene decided to be an architect, but one Sunday evening the youth minister told the youth group a story that changed his mind.
The youth minister said that he was very emotionally torn because the senior minister had ordered him to go knock on the doors of the homes of all the black kids and youth who had attended the church’s summertime vacation Bible School and tell their parents directly that, even though their kids had been welcome to vacation Bible School, the youth and their families were, in fact, not welcome to come and worship in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings. The youth minister carried out this order. Gene was so upset about this he said he decided he would become a Christian missionary and work for racial justice the rest of his life. He ended up going to seminary, becoming a pastor, and was an active supporter of civil rights, including organizing, fundraising and marching for civil rights.
Gene sought out leadership positions throughout his life. He was the director of the summer camp program for the Christian churches in central Oklahoma. He was the packmaster for the largest Boy Scout troop in Oklahoma City. He was active in various boards and committees in the Christian Church and at Chapman University.
Gene was a voracious reader. Even in the months before his death, he would read up to 4 hours a day. Most of his life was one of physical activity, fun, being outdoors, and adventure. He loved nature. He bought a boat and made many trips to Catalina Island, swimming daily in the crystal clear waters of Avalon or Two Harbors. Four weeks before he died he swam one day in Diver’s Cove in Laguna Beach for over 30 minutes. He routinely swam up to five days a week in his community pool up until three weeks before he died. When younger, he took his family to almost every national park in the Western United States during family vacations, hiking to the most remote and beautiful places he could find. He loved fly fishing in Montana and Wyoming. Yellowstone was a favorite place for him. He skied into his 70s in Badger Pass in Yosemite. He was a gifted painter and sculptor. He won numerous Best of Show awards at the San Clemente Art Association along with several awards at the Orange County Fair for his paintings. He won a city-wide snowman making contest in Oklahoma City held by the top radio station, WKY, with his 6 foot tall Statue of Liberty (made with the labor of the kids in the neighborhood).
He was a pastor for over 40 years. He counseled countless hundreds of people, couples, and families. He performed countless weddings and memorial services. His nights at home were often spent on the phone counseling and giving emotional support for hours to members of the congregation. He devoted his life to his work in the church.
The love of his life was his wife Barbara with whom he very happily celebrated their 69th anniversary in September. A special place in his heart was reserved for his greatest love, his miniature dachshund, Zoe, who, (sorry Barbara) was the living thing he loved the most in his life. He never went anywhere without his constant companion, bringing her with him to the church office every day. He was a great dad and will be deeply missed by his three sons, Mark, Jay, and Shawn. He dearly loved his grandkids, Olivia, and Kenny.
Near the end of his life he was lucky enough to return to Harbor Christian Church. He was deeply grateful for the very warm welcoming he received from Pastor Sadie and the congregation. It was the high point of his week to get up, shower, get dressed and find his way to church every Sunday morning. He then would recount the events of the service to his family at home later Sunday evening. It was like coming back home to him, and meant more to him than any of you could know.
Thank you from his family to each of you for your kindness to him and to each one of you he would surely wish, “Peace be to you.”
Some of us knew Gene first as Harbor's Pastor and some as a beloved community member. From 1975 to present, Gene kept his mind open, heart centered on service with an endless supply of wise words to share with Harbor's community.
A church bulletin from 1975 was found containing words from Gene. Though it was written in a different time, his hopes and assignment to the community of that day are just as relevant today for ours.
Please read the excerpt below with the spirit of Gene in your heart:
I think it is significant that one one of the first tasks assigned to man as part of God's creation plan was to give names to every living creature. Names still play a vital role in God's plan for us as they help draw us together across the chasms of isolation that are so much a part of current life. I want to ask each of you to accept as a holy assignment the responsibility of getting to know and use the names of every person in our life together. There is more to loving and caring than speaking another's names, of course, but it starts there. Whatever God is planning to do through us in the congregation, it should be built on a foundation of taking names and the persons who go with them as seriously as God has.
Grace and Peace,
Gene Swanson
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