Gerald Ray "Jerry" Swan ⁴¹⁰

  General Notes:

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I am the oldest of my parents eight children and I was born a twin. My brother Jim and I were very close as we grew up. Being a twin I was rarely without a work or play companion. Many wonderful things happened to us together, but with a few exceptions, for this record I will try to stick to stories about me.
Most of my early life we lived on a ten acre farm on Alpine Road in Stockton, California. Growing up on a farm there was lots of work for everyone. The work made us strong for the life experiences that followed. We always had chores to do. When I was six I learned to milk a cow. We called her Brownie. She was a very good cow because she would let us milk her anywhere in the pasture. Most cows will only let you milk them from the right side but Brownie would let us milk her from both sides at the same time. I would milk her from the right and Jim would milk her from the left.

When I was ten I joined the Glenwood 4-H Club. Our next door neighbor, Mr. Waller, was our leader. He was a good and dedicated man and I learned many good things from him in 4-H. Everyone had to have a project. I had several over the years but the most fun for me was the outdoor cooking project. I learned how to cook outside using an open fire. My special project was wrapping the food in foil and cooking it underground in a fire pit. Jim and I did team demonstrations, about under ground cooking, using these skills. We won the county contest two years in a row and in our last year in 4-H we won the regional competition in this division. This was the highlight of my 4-H experiences and we got our picture in the newspaper.

Another project that was very interesting for me was working with bees. For three years (when we about 13 or 14) Jim and I took bees and honey to the county fair and won several ribbons. From then on bees were a part of my life. Daddy and Jim and I spent many hours together building bee equipment and working bees. We spent many nights moving them until the wee hours of the morning. My years in 4-H were very enjoyable to me and were the focal point of my socialization as I grew up, until our family joined the Church in 1957.

In high school I was a little above average and I enjoyed learning. From the beginning I was on the football team because of my size (I was 6-1 and weighed about 200 lb.). In my sophomore year they began a wrestling team at Linden. I wrestled as the first string heavyweight. During my junior year I won enough matches to go to the State Tournament. I took fourth. As a senior I went to State again and took second in Northern California. For this effort I received the outstanding athlete award at Linden High School. No one had every placed that high in athletics at any State Tournament for our school.

In 1956 Daddy was working at the State Hospital in Stockton. He became friends with Brother Waring Hart. Waring told daddy about his church. It was because of Waring that the Stake Missionaries from the Church came to our home and taught our family about the gospel. It was in these meetings that I gained my testimony. I was almost 16 when I was baptized on January 5,1957. Daddy led the way. He was the first to be baptized. Jim was also baptized the same day. The Church came into my life at a very important time. The teachings of the gospel helped me make many right decisions that have blessed my life. When I graduated from High School I was able to go to college. I got a football scholarship to play freshman ball at Brigham Young University.

Going to BYU was the most important thing I had ever done in my life. I was on my own for the first time. I got to do what I wanted to do. But I knew, because of the church it had to be the right thing. I loved being at BYU, but the school work was difficult for me because I lacked the fast reading skills I needed.

While at BYU I met Mary Ann Grudzinski. It was at the first dance of the year. They were doing a "snow ball" dance to get everyone dancing. After several partners I was dancing with Mary Ann. She was a little confused at first because she thought she had danced with me earlier. When I introduced her to Jim she understood, I was a twin. Mary Ann and I got better acquainted, then began dating. On March 17, 1960 she asked me to go steady. One year later to the day in 1961 we were married in the Los Angles Temple.

After we were married we lived in a little house on Viola Street in Stockton. I worked at Orvis & Clinger slaughter house, until they closed that fall. After that Daddy helped me get started plastering. In May 1962 our first son Tom was born, and in June of 1964 our daughter Kathy was added to our family. By now our little 1 bedroom house on Viola was becoming too small. We struggled for a year trying to figure out what to do. I had gone to work in the plastering union and had finished my apprenticeship. In November 1965 we fixed up our little house then sold it. With a little help from Mary Ann's parents we were able to buy our home on Mendocino Avenue. It was great to have a bigger house. We loved our new home and many dreams were "hatched" here. Our sons Mike and Bob were born while living here (Mike in 1967 and Bob in 1971). In 1969 we began our remodeling of this house. It became a 5 bedroom home and wasn't finished until 1986. We worked on it as we had time and money and sometimes both were in short supply. Mary Ann and I worked together with our children, with lots of help from Mary Ann's parents, and we learned many important skills.

In 1967 plastering began to slow down. I could see that things were going to get real tough if I didn't find some steady work. I went out looking for a job. Before the day was over, I found what was to become my new profession. In August I took the test to become a Deputy Sheriff. I passed several tests and I was hired December 7,1967. I have truly loved my job as a Deputy. It has given me many opportunities to serve people. In December 1994 I completed 27 years as a Deputy Sheriff for San Joaquin County. I plan to retire in a three or four years.
I continue to be active in the Church. In 1963, while serving on a Stake mission I was ordained a Seventy by S. Dilworth Young. I remained a Seventy until they no longer had Seventies serving in the Stakes. As a Seventy I served as the Ward Mission Leader for 8 years, and I have seen many people join the Church. I currently serve in the Stake Mission Presidency.

In 1986 we went to Hawaii to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Things were going pretty well. In the fall we bought our cabin in the mountains near Big Trees State Park. In January of 1987 I learned that I had a brain tumor. Well, after two major surgeries they got the tumor out. It's great to be able to write about it.

Before I close this story I would like to tell my favorite cop story. I was working on a Wednesday night swing shift with a partner. About midnight we were just cruising around. I was driving in our neighborhood. It was unusual for me to be assigned to that area. I came to a red light at Pershing and Alpine. I thought, "I'll make a right turn on the red light and go back by my house."

About 4 or 5 blocks west on Alpine I saw a pickup truck towing a plaster mixer. It just didn't look right. There was no scaffold on the truck and it was midnight. So I made a U-turn and got behind the guy with the mixer. When I got closer I recognized the mixer as MY MIXER. I put the red lights on to stop him, but I was so excited I couldn't give the desk my exact location. I told the desk I could not read all of the license number because he was towing a plaster mixer. By now everyone who was listening to the sheriff's radio knew that this was MY MIXER. I asked the suspect, " Where did you get this mixer?"

He said, "Oh, I got it from a friend." But he couldn't tell me the name of the friend. I toyed with him for a couple of minutes, trying to keep a straight face.
Finally I told him, "You are under arrest for grand theft for stealing MY MIXER"
He said, "Well I guess you got me," and turned around to be hand cuffed. When we got him to jail he told me, "Swan, if I had known that was your mixer, I wouldn't have taken it. When I was in jail last year you treated me kindly." The moral of this story is that the good Lord knew I needed that mixer more than he did.

I was born in Stockton. So were my brothers and sisters. Now in 1995, I am the only one of us to have lived here my entire life. Mama and Daddy moved to Arizona with the younger kids in 1963.

Best of all I can truly say that I was born of goodly parents. They raised me with love and respect for truth and honor. They taught me how to work and become successful. They fostered my love and understanding for the gospel of Jesus of Christ by the way they lived and taught me and my brothers and sisters. As a father and grandfather, I have tried to teach my children and my six grandchildren many of these same ideals.

One last thing, I believe each of us has a turn on earth and it is up to each of us to make the best "me out of me." I try to live each day the best I can and make a difference for good. ⁴¹⁰

  Life Events:

1. Church Affiliation: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ⁴¹⁰

2. Occupation: Deputy Sheriff, 1967- Present, San Joaquin County, California, USA. ⁴¹⁰

Gerald married Mary Ann Grudzinski on 17 Mar 1961.⁴¹⁰ (Mary Ann Grudzinski was born in 1940 ⁴¹⁰.)