Sara Swift

Family/Spouse: Snyder. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Dean Swift
• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/178373043
• _FGRAVE: 178373043

Notes:

Died:
Arthur Dean Swift was born in Chicago in 1918 to Harold Arthur Swift and Ethel Vada Rogers. He was their only child. His father died early in 1925, when Dean was only 6 years old. His mother continue to raise him by herself.
Dean married Mary Louise Hardy on 3 Mar 1941 in Cook County, IL. They had two sons and a daughter. Dean died in 2000 and Mary Lou never remarried. She died in 2007.


Obituary/bio:
A. Dean Swift, 81, Sears Ceo In '70s
September 01, 2000|By James Janega, Tribune Staff Writer.
A. Dean Swift, 81, president of Sears, Roebuck & Co. through the recessions and inflation of the 1970s, died Monday, Aug. 28, in Evanston Hospital after suffering a stroke over the weekend.
He was the 11th president of the 114-year-old company, elected to the position in 1972 at perhaps the height of Sears' national influence, and he held the post until the beginning of the massive company upheaval of the 1980s.
The size of Sears, Roebuck in 1972 is hard to imagine. As the Sears Tower ascended above Chicago's Loop, Sears accounted for 1 percent of the United States' gross national product. Two out of three people had shopped at Sears within any three-month period, and half the adults in America held a Sears charge card.
But then came oil embargoes, inflation, growing unemployment and a recession. By the end of the 1970s, Sears, like most every other retail outlet in the United States, was struggling to regain its former footing.
Mr. Swift, who retired in 1980, was popular among Sears workers throughout his tenure.
He headed an effort to bring diversity to Sears' workforce and among its suppliers and was widely regarded as an employee-oriented humanitarian.
"If you could pick a father, it was said of Swift, it would be Dean," wrote author Donald Katz in his 1987 book "The Big Store."
A man with an energetic, folksy manner, Mr. Swift started his career at Sears as a salesman and served in almost every other capacity after that. Other executives said he was the kind of manager who took off his sport coat during meetings and gave impromptu speeches remembered for decades.
"He excelled at that," said Ernest Arms, a friend of Mr. Swift's and a longtime spokesman for Sears. "It was his nature, the kind of guy he was."
Mr. Swift grew up in Evanston and graduated in 1940 from the University of Illinois with a political science degree. He went to work as a salesman in the Highland Park Sears store the same year. During World War II, he was a field artillery officer in Europe, winning two Bronze Stars.
He became the Highland Park store's division manager when he returned. Until 1964, he held managerial positions in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky, then was named general manager of stores in Indianapolis, and later Detroit.
He became vice president of Sears' 13-state southern territory in 1969, serving also on the boards of Allstate Insurance, Homart Development and Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp. He began his term as Sears president in 1973.
Donald Deutsch, a former Sears vice president, said Mr. Swift also served on dozens of boards, ranging from Commonwealth Edison and the Chicago Board of Trade to the National Urban League, Crusade of Mercy and the Metropolitan Housing and Planning Council. Most of his affiliations involved people-oriented organizations, and Mr. Swift clearly got a lot of enjoyment from them, Deutsch said.
"You could just tell. It was a part of him; he had a great gift for talking to people," said Deutsch. "It was just a part of his makeup and soul."
And it played a big part in why Mr. Swift, minutes after his retirement from Sears, marched across the Loop and volunteered with the Executive Service Corps, said Dennis Zavac, president of the group in which former executives of major companies do volunteer consulting with nonprofit groups.
In 12 years as chairman of the board at Executive Service Corps, Mr. Swift increased its annual budget from $160,000 to $1.1 million and increased the number of corporate supporters tenfold, Zavac said. He accomplished it largely by persuading chief executive officers to come over for a ham sandwich, cole slaw and a slide presentation, Zavac said.
"There was no one in town he wouldn't call, and he delivered," Zavac said. "He was a quiet man, but he threw himself into what he believed in."
Mr. Swift was still chairman of the Executive Service Corps' executive committee when he died.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou; two sons, Dean W. and Dr. Dan; a daughter, Sara Snyder; and eight grandchildren.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday in the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest, 700 N. Sheridan Rd., Lake Forest.

Arthur married Mary Louise "Mary Lou" Hardy on 3 Mar 1941 in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Mary (daughter of Clarion DeWitt Hardy and Mary Elizabeth "Mamie" Saul) was born on 18 Oct 1918 in Evaston, Cook County, Illinois, United States; died on 15 Feb 2007 in Sarasota, Sarasota County, Florida, United States; was buried on 31 Mar 2007 in First Presbyterian Church Memorial Garden, Lake Forest, Lake County, Illinois, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Mary Lou Hardy
• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/178394076
• _FGRAVE: 178394076

Notes:

Died:
Mary Louise Hardy was born in Evanston in 1918 to Clarion DeWitt Hardy and Mary Elizabeth "Mamie" Saul. She was the youngest of their three children and the only girl. The family lived in South Dakota for several years and moved to Evanston prior to Mary's birth.
Clarion died in 1936 and Mary is listed with her mother in Evanston in the 1940 census.
Mary Lou married A. Dean Swift on 3 Mar 1941 in Cook County. Dean worked for many years with Sears, eventually becoming their C.E.O. Mary Lou and Dean had 2 sons and a daughter. The children are listed in Dean's memorial.
Mary Lou and Dean celebrated 59 years of marriage together before Dean died in 2000. Mary Lou never remarried. She died in 2007.

Obituary:
Mary Louise Swift
Mary Louise Swift, 88, of Lake Forest, IL, died Feb. 15 in Sarasota, FL.
She was born in Evanston in 1918, graduated from Northwestern University and moved multiple times with her late husband, Mr. A. Dean Swift, acquiring many friends along the way.
Mrs. Swift has resided in Lake Forest for the past 35 years.
Mrs. Swift was an enthusiastic volunteer and active on many boards. She volunteered at the Chicago Boys Club, Museum of Science and Industry, Illinois Children's Home and Aid, and the Chicago Symphony. In Lake Forest she was active in the garden club, book discussion groups, First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest, Kappa Kappa Gamma, golf group and PEO
She was an avid lover of birds, gardens and nature of any kind.
She will be remembered for being a wonderful mother and friend, with a graceful, dynamic spirit who lit up any room she entered.
She is survived by her sons, Dean W. (Margaret) Swift of Cody, WY, Dr. Daniel L. (Susan) Swift of Rockville, IL; daughter Sara (William) Swift Snyder of Lake Bluff; eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 pm, March 31 at the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest, 700 N. Sheridan Road, Lake Forest.
Donations may be made in her name to the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest
Printed in the Lake Forester, Thursday, Mar. 15, 2007

Other Events and Attributes:

• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179604062
• _FGRAVE: 179604062

Notes:

Died:
Clarion DeWitt Hardy was born in 1877 to Albion Paris Hardy and Mary Jane Scott. He was the 3rd of their eight children. Albion was a farmer. They family moved from Iowa to South Dakota in the late 1890s. All eight children were born in Iowa.
Clarion married Mary Elizabeth "Mamie" Saul on 21 Jun 1906 in Davison County, South Dakota. They had three children, Vaughn, Clarion, Jr. and Mary Louise.

Per Graceland Cemetery, Clarion was cremated and his ashes strewn in the cemetery.

Obituary:
Chicago Tribune, Sunday, June 28, 1936
Prof. C. D. Hardy, Civic Leader in Evanston, Dies
Clarion DeWitt Hardy, 2111 Sherman Ave, Evanston, professor of public speaking and debate at Northwestern University since 1913, died yesterday at the Evanston Hospital after an illness of about a month. He was 58 years old.
Prof. Hardy was born at Dow City, IA and was graduated from Dakota Wesleyan college. He taught at that institution before coming to Northwestern.
In civic affairs, Professor Hardy played a prominent part for many years. He was past president of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, past president of the suburb's safety council, former chairman of the community chest and a member of the Evanston high school board. He served several terms as president of the University Club of Evanston.
Surviving Prof. Hardy are his widow, Mrs. Mary Louise Hardy, two sons, Vaughn and Clarion DeWitt, Jr., and a daughter, Mary Louise. Funeral services will be held in the chapel of the First Methodist Church, Evanston, at 4:30 pm tomorrow.


Buried:
Per Graceland Cemetery, Clarion was cremated and his ashes strewn in the cemetery.

Clarion married Mary Elizabeth "Mamie" Saul on 21 Jun 1906 in Davison County, South Dakota, United States. Mary was born on 3 Oct 1880 in London, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada; died on 2 Dec 1948 in Evanston, Cook County, Illinois, United States; was cremated on 4 Dec 1948. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Mamie Saul
• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179605044
• _FGRAVE: 179605044

Notes:

Died:
Mary Elizabeth "Mamie" Saul was born in 1880 to William H. Saul and Phoebe A. McLaskey. The family moved from London, Ontario to South Dakota in 1883 where Mamie eventually met Clarion DeWitt Hardy. The were married in Davison County, SD on 21 June 1906. They had three children, Vaughn, Clarion, Jr., and Mary Louise. Shortly after graduating from college and teaching for several years in South Dakota, Clarion accepted a position at Northwestern University. Mamie spent the bulk of her life in Evanston, IL where she died. Clarion died in 1936, but Mamie never remarried.

Obituary:
Chicago Tribune, Dec. 4, 1948
Hardy -
Mary Elizabeth Hardy, Dec. 2, 1948, of 2111 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, IL, wife of the late Clarion DeWitt Hardy; mother of Vaughn Harrison Hardy, Rochester, NY, Clarion DeWitt Hardy, Jr., New York City, and Mrs. Arthur Dean Swift, Maywood, IL. Service 3 pm, Saturday and First Methodist church chapel, 1630 Hinman Ave, Evanston. Burial private.

Although it is likely Mamie was cremated and her ashes strewn in the same cemetery as her husband, Graceland Cemetery could not confirm that fact. I've left the disposition as cremated, ashes given to family.

Buried:
Although it is likely Mamie was cremated and her ashes strewn in the same cemetery as her husband, Graceland Cemetery could not confirm that fact. I've left the disposition as cremated, ashes given to family.

Other Events and Attributes:

• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122196729
• _FGRAVE: 122196729

Notes:

Died:
Albion Hardy was born Nov 30, 1843, at Etna, Maine. He married Mary Jane Scott of North Gower, Canada, on Dec 5, 1872.

He joined the army when age 16 and was in the Civil War.

Mr. and Mrs. Hardy homesteaded 10 miles NE of TL in Corson County in 1911.

Known children: Ira C Gillmore, Maynard N Hardy, Mrs. William C. Reyer.

Albion married Mary Jane Scott on 5 Dec 1872 in Crawford County, Iowa, United States. Mary (daughter of William Scott and Mary Anne Garland) was born in 1851 in North Gower Township, Carleton County, Ontario, Canada; died in 1933; was buried in Timber Lake Cemetery, Timber Lake, Dewey County, South Dakota, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122196853
• _FGRAVE: 122196853

Notes:

Died:
Mary Jane Scott of North Gower, Canada, married Albion Hardy on Dec 5, 1872.

They homesteaded 10 miles NE of TL in Corson County in 1911.

Known children: Ira C Gillmore, Maynard N Hardy, Mrs. William C Reyer.