Jerry Summers: Sam Swope – Red Bank Patriot

Seldom has there been an individual who has been more successful in all aspects of their life as Samuel Newton Swope.  From his birth on October 26, 1924 until his death on April 21, 2007, Sam lived a life that would be envious to anyone.  He was born in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, the youngest of three brothers to a family poor in finances but rich in principles.

When World War II (WWII) broke out he attempted to join the United States Navy at the age of 16 but was rejected as being too young.  The next year he took his mother with him to the recruiting station and she signed to allow him to enter the Navy.  During WWII he was a signalman on LST 485 and served in the Naval Reserves until he was discharged once again because of his age, but this time he was too old after serving 42 years – in WWII in the Pacific, also in Europe and the Korean War.  When he retired he was Master Chief of the United States Naval Reserve Center in Chattanooga.

He also served in Washington on the Naval Policy Board for many years and was Grand Marshal of the Annual Armed Forces Parade in 2005.  Sam was a devoted member of the Red Bank Baptist Church for 58 years at the time of his death.  He and his wife of 58 years had also been heavily involved in many aspects of the church.  In 1961 he started Swope Rental Company and was active in the business until his death.  In that capacity he employed many area youth in the summer with part-time jobs. 

In 1984 he was named Small Businessman of the year by the Red Bank Area Council of the Chamber of Commerce.  He was the long-time treasurer of the Forgotten Child Fund and was particularly fond of riding on the “Santa Train” each Christmas.  He aptly fit the reputation of “having never met a stranger.”  His wife Margaret Brady Swope on a trip to Disneyland in California in 1968 quipped that this would finally be a place “where he would not know anyone.”  However as they entered the park they met an acquaintance of Sam’s coming through the exit.

Sam donated the material to build playground equipment at Orange Grove Center when it opened in Glenwood in 1974 and did the same in 1977 at Normal Park Elementary.  He was a board member of the Hamilton County Fund for Excellence and lifetime member of the Parent Teacher Association at Red Bank, where he was a big supporter of education.   He was instrumental in the building of the Red Bank High School football stadium and was an avid fan of the Red Bank Lions athletic teams.  As a result of his input and support for the widening of Morrison Spring Road, it was later renamed Sam Swope Parkway.

Other activities included serving as vice chairman of the Governing Board of what is now Erlanger North for 17 years.  Sam was a member of Red Bank Masonic Lodge #717, the Alhambra Shrine and appropriately a member of the Royal Order of Jesters, as well as past president of the Red Bank Lions Club.  Sam Swope was a dedicated husband, father, church member and military veteran who loved his country and served it well. 

He loved his community and participated in an endless number of charitable events.  Gregarious in some ways, quiet in others, he built a successful business after being born and raised in meager circumstances.  He was missed by all who knew him when he died on April 21, 2007, and is still missed today by anyone whose life he touched.

He was a true Red Bank and American Patriot.

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Jerry Summers

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