Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Sunday, October 01, 2006 at 05:51:14 :
San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2002
SWIG, Lura Martin -- Passed away peacefully at her home in San Francisco surrounded by family on December 26, 2001. She was born in New York City on August 20, 1902 to Lulu and George Martin and raised in rural New Jersey. She taught elementary school until her 1931 marriage to Howard Roosevelt Swig. The family moved to California in 1946. Lura was an active member of the Robert Browning Society, Brandeis University Women's Division; and the Christian Science Church. She was a patron of the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera. She was a guest lecturer to various organizations on her favorite topic, Renaissance and Post-Renaissance Europe. She was an avid painter and poet. She is survived by her children, Martin Lewis Swig of Sausalito; Lura Swig Bastek of Naples, Florida; and Richard Henry Swig of Council Bluffs, Iowa. She leaves six grandchildren, Lura Elsen of Portland, Ore.; Howard Pazdral of Deadwood, Ore.; Annalisa Poirel of Evian-les-Bains, France; Rebecca Thorsen of Long Beach, Ca.; and David and Howard Swig of Sausalito, Ca.; and six great-grandchildren. She is the last survivor of the generation that included her two sisters, and her beloved husband, Howard Swig, who predeceased her in 1972 and his ten sisters and brothers, among them Benjamin Swig of San Francisco. Her nephews, Melvin Swig, Richard Swig, and niece Betty Dinner have all predeceased her. She leaves many loving grand nieces, grand nephews and cousins; and many loving and caring friends. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to your favorite charity.
San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, Jan. 3, 2002
Lura Martin Swig -- artist, patron of arts
Katherine Seligman, Chronicle Staff Writer
Lura Martin Swig, an arts patron and philanthropist active in numerous civic organizations, died on Dec. 26 at her home in San Francisco. She was 99.
Mrs. Swig, who had a lifelong love of the arts, was a patron of both the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera. She also loved learning about Renaissance history and culture and was often asked to give guest lectures on those topics to various organizations.
In the last half of her life, she had set a goal for herself to become an accomplished painter, said her son, Martin Lewis Swig of Sausalito. She converted one of the bedrooms in her Nob Hill apartment into an art studio and spent many happy hours there turning out landscapes, which she gave to friends and relatives.
Mrs. Swig was born in New York City on Aug. 20, 1902, and raised in rural New Jersey. She taught elementary school there until her marriage in 1931 to Howard Roosevelt Swig, who died 30 years ago. The family moved to San Francisco in 1946.
She was an active member of the Robert Browning Society, Brandeis University Women's Division, and liked to write poetry. She also enjoyed collecting rare books, which she then donated to libraries.
She was the last survivor of a generation of the renowned hotelier and philanthropy family that included her husband, and his brother Benjamin Swig and her nephews Melvin and Richard Swig and niece Betty Dinner, who all died before her.
"She would often tell us, 'I was born in a world when there were no cars or planes or televisions,' " her son recalled. "She felt she lived in a generation that was part of an unrepeatable century. It was not paralleled by any other time. She started life with a horse and buggy and then was able to travel to Europe by plane in 10 hours."
Mrs. Swig is survived by two other children, Lura Swig Bastek of Naples, Fla., and Richard Henry Swig of Council Bluffs, Iowa; six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Services will be private and the family suggests a donation to a favorite charity.
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