Kenneth Wayne Swift

Published 4:37 pm Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Kenneth Wayne Swift, 73, of the Lynn Valley Community, Elizabethton, son of the late Zeb and Hazel Hodge Swift, passed away March 24, 2019, after a lengthy illness.
Mr. Swift was a 1965 graduate of Elizabethton High School. He was retired from the Tennessee Department of Transportation as a bridge inspector.
Mr. Swift prided himself as being a charter member of Riverview Baptist Church in Lynn Valley.
Mr. Swift was a Past District Deputy and Past State President of the Tennessee Elks Association. He was Past Exalted Ruler and Past Scholarship Chairman of the Most Valuable Student and Nursing Scholarships of the Elizabethton Elks Lodge #1847.
Mr. Swift was an avid football fan, his favorite teams being Notre Dame and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Survivors include his wife of 50 years, Patricia (Patty) Bowers Swift; sister, Brenda Swift Campbell; sister-in-law, Ruth Cullop; nephews, Jassen Campbell, Chad Campbell and wife Amy, daughter Lacey, Bobby, Jimmy and Terry Frazier; and a very special great-nephew, Davis Campbell, who was the light of his life.
It was Mr. Swift’s wish for his body to be donated to science for the benefit of education of others and no formal service is planned.
The family would like to thank Ballad Health Hospice for their care and concern during Mr. Swift’s illness.
A celebration of his life will be held for family and close friends at a later date.
The family would like to personally thank each of these individuals for their kindness in helping care for Kenny: Laura Evans, RN, Candace Anderson, LPN, Robbie Barlow, Social Worker, Greg Matney, RN, Torainna Hensley, CNA, “Chuck” Turner, RN – phone/office; Allison Miller, RN.
Kenny made a new BFF forever with Torainna Hensley, Ballad Health. She became known as his bath girl in the beginning and ended being his forever friend.
A special thanks to Restore Life USA for treating us with dignity and kindness.

To Remember Me
By Robert N. Test
At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.
…do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body… and don’t call this my “deathbed.” Call it my “bed of life,” and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives. Give my sight to a man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby’s face or love in the eyes of a woman…
…Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk.
Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her windows.
…what is left of me, scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.
If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses, and all my prejudice against my fellow man.
Give my sins to the devil. Give my soul to God.