Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND001 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 271056
Title: Elmer E. Swain
Date: 6/1/1943-1/5/2024
Inscription/Marks: 6/1/1943
Summary: Elmer E. Swain, husband of Patti Kay, passed away January 5, 2024, at the age of 80, in Tioga, ND, after being sick and suffering a massive heart attack. A funeral service was held January 15, 2024, at the First Lutheran Church in White Earth, ND. He was laid to rest at the White Earth Cemetery. Elmer was born June 1, 1943, in Brownsville, TN, to Mary Edith (Cleek) Swain and Jessie Joe Swain. He had eight brothers, Utah, Jessie Paul, Franklin, Junior, Raymond, Jimmy, David and Leonard; and three sisters, Pauline, Edith Womack, and Margaret, who all preceded him in death. In the summer of 1970, Elmer met the love of his life, Patti Hogan. They dated for a while, then ran off and got married on January 15, 1971, in Mexico. He traveled all over the world and lived in several states, including Tennessee, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas. Elmer and Patti lived in White Earth for the last 9 years. Elmer served proudly in the Army from July of 1961 until February of 1970, completing 8 years, 4 months. While in the Army he went to Ranger school, Special Forces, Jump school and Jungle Warfare school. He was stationed in Germany, Vietnam for two tours, and Korea. Elmer served honorably; in March 2023 he was recognized by President Obama, Trump, and Biden for his time in Vietnam and received his welcome home hero. He touched the hearts of many. For some he was family, best friend to many, a father figure to several. His house was always filled with laughter and happiness. He was a roofer, carpenter, and worked on pipelines. Elmer never met a stranger. He loved to fish, spend time with his kids, grandkids, loved to tell stories, play around, but most importantly he loved to see his wife Patti smile. He was loved by all and will truly be missed. Elmer is survived by his wife of 51 wonderful years, Patti Kay (Hogan) Swain; two sons, Jessie Joe Swain, of Tioga, and Billy Jack Swain, of Clinton, OK; two daughters, Niesha Lynn (Swain) Bullard, of Granbury, TX, and Felisha Kay Oker and Brandon Oker, of Boliver, MO; nine grandchildren, SabrinaLee M. Rainey, Cody W. Bullard, Faithlynn Oker, AJ Oker, Kaden Oker, Braden Swain, Brooklyn Oden, Jennavive Isbell, and Joshua Bryant; three great-grandchildren, ZaydenLee Berkley, Nxylynn Berkley and Sailor Shadwell.
Red ID: FND_I_78546 Image ID: 596041 Image Notes: FND001 271056

Collection: FND001 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Date: -

Summary: The North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program is sponsored by the North Dakota Funeral Directors Association. The life stories of deceased North Dakotans are featured in an archvied collection. Current partners in the project are Eastgate Funeral & Cremation Services, Bismarck Evans Funeral Homes, Carrington and New Rockford Everson-Coughlin Funeral Home, Williston Fulkerson Funeral Home, Tioga Fulkerson Funeral Home, Watford City Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Williston Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau Parkway Funeral Service, Bismarck Springan Stevenson Funeral Home, Stanley Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson These funeral homes provide recent obituaries to the Foundation, where staff and volunteers format, edit and archive each memorial. The memorials are posted, and copies are sent to the family for their input and approval. The listing currently features more than 13,000 memorials, and is constantly updated as new memorials and histories are received.

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