Swanger, Sterling O. 1922-2007

SWANGER, MESSING, HINDMAN, CONOVER, MADSEN

Posted By: Volunteer (email)
Date: 7/27/2007 at 17:15:09

Sterling O. Swanger, 85, of Newton died Monday, May 28, 2007, at his home in Park Centre in Newton.

Services will be 11 a.m. Friday at the First Presbyterian Church in Newton with the Rev. Tiare Mathison-Bowie officiating. The family will greet friends from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday at the Wallace Family Funeral Home in Newton. Burial will be in the Newton Union Cemetery in Newton.

Memorials to the First Presbyterian Church, Hospice of Jasper County or to Alzheimer’s research may be left at the funeral home or at the church on the morning of the service.

The son of Orval M. and Alma Louise (Messing) Swanger, he was born Jan. 5, 1922 in Battle Creek. He was a lifelong resident of Newton.

He received his bachelor’s degree in general engineering at Iowa State University in 1947 and attended the Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. He worked for the Maytag Company for 40 years, starting as an engineer and retiring as the senior vice president of manufacturing for the Maytag Corporation in 1987. He had served on the Maytag Board of Directors and on the Maytag Company Foundation board.

He was united in marriage on July 2, 1950, to Maxine Hindman in Newton.

He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Maytag Management Club, NMA (where he was awarded the silver and gold Knight of Management), ALLE (where he was awarded the outstanding achievement in management award), IES, NSPE, Registered Professional Engineer, Newton Planning and Zoning, Skiff Hospital Trustee and Chairman, Progress Industries and the Progress Industries Foundation, he was the past Chairman of the Skiff Medical Center Foundation, recipient of the Professional Achievement in Engineering award from Iowa State University, a member of the Newton Country Club and the Elks.

He served his country in the United States Army in the Corps of Engineers during WW II. He enjoyed golfing, playing tennis and walking.

Survivors include his wife, Maxine; one son, Eric Swanger of Chandler, Ariz.; two sisters, Harriett Conover of Holstein and Verla Madsen of Sioux City; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and three brothers, Russell Swanger, Wayne Swanger and Lowell Swanger.

The Newton (IA) Daily News, Wednesday, May 30, 2007