John Wesley "Wes" Swauger died Saturday, April 16, 2005, at Florida Hospital, DeLand. Mr. Swauger was a resident of Alliance Community for Retirement Living (ACRL) since Jan. 2003. He was born March 28, 1928, in Titusville, Pa., to the Rev. Dr. John Robert Swauger and Lois Arlene Cogan Swauger. Wes was a graduate of the high school in Apollo, Pa., and of Houghton College, Houghton, N.Y. He attended Biblical Seminary, New York, N.Y. He was ordained to the ministry in the Wesleyan Methodist denomination (now the Wesleyan Church). After he married Harriet Richards in 1950, they both joined Wycliffe Bible Translators, a missionary organization with headquarters in Orlando, focusing on investigating the speaking of illiterate primitive tribes who have no written language. After a language is supplied with a written format, Wycliffe workers translate the Bible into that language. Then they teach nationals to read. Wes and Harriet learned linguistic and translation skills at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla., and jungle-living skills in Mexico in preparation for WBT service. Wes served Wycliffe for 40 years in Ecuador, Peru and the JAARS base in Waxhaw, N.C. Wes had special skills in installation and maintenance of two-way radios in planes employed for safety and communication in Wycliffe ministries in prim- itive countries. Wes is survived by all four of his siblings, Martha Hope McGraw and Lois Roberta Swauger, both of ACRL, DeLand, Paul Landis Swuager, Brooksville, and Virginia May Dongell, Central, S.C.; three children, Al, a former Wycliffe worker, now of Dallas, Texas, Carol Arlene Hepner, a Wycliffe missionary in Papua, New Guinea, now furloughing in Bucyrus, Ohio, and Doug, Wilmington, Del., who is an English professor at Philadelphia Community College; six grandchildren; and 10 nieces and nephews. Wes was predeceased by his son, Larry, and his wife, Harriet. The service was held April 19 at Alliance Chapel, DeLand, with the Rev. Don Anderson officiating and Dr. Gerald E. McGraw preaching on "Seven Things Missing Beyond the Sunset." Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home was in charge. Interment is planned in Bridgeport, N.J., next week. .

Published in Daytona Beach News-Journal on Apr. 26, 2005