Swan

Reyer Oscar Swan, M.D., resident of Passavant Retirement Community in Zelienople, passed away gently Wednesday.

Born May 6, 1925, in Lancaster, Dr. Swan also lived in Sewickley and Lititz, Pa., where he maintained a medical family practice for over 30 years and where he was respected and loved throughout his community.

He was often heard to say that what he missed most about being a doctor was the connection he enjoyed with people in the town where he made his home and raised his family. He will be missed not only by them, but by everyone who knew him as well as by those who came under his care.

Dr. Swan graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster in 1945, and Thomas Jefferson College of Medicine in Philadelphia in 1949, after which he established a family practice in Lititz, interrupted by service as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. During that time, Dr. Swan, his wife, Mary, and infant son, Tom, lived in Washington, D.C.

After completing his military service, he returned to Lititz and re-established a successful family practice in which he worked happily until his retirement in 1987.

A skilled cabinet maker, Dr. Swan loved taking care of his property on Third Avenue in Lititz, and also gardening, hunting, and bee keeping. In his well-equipped work shop, he created beautiful Chippendale furniture along with countless items that he lovingly designed, sawed, carved and polished of cherry, oak and other fine hard woods. Many of his creations were from local woods that he acquired, had milled, and then aged for years in his basement workshop.

Dr. Swan is survived by his beloved wife of 60 years, Mary Pavulak Swan. He was the loving father of Thomas Reyer Swan and David Michael Swan, M.D. and his wife, Barbara, M.D.; the proud grandfather of Collin David Swan and Christopher James Swan; and the brother of Thomas and George Swan, and the late Carolyn Kirk and Pearl Hessen. His extended family included also many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

SWAN – There will be no visitation for Reyer Oscar Swan, who died gently Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012, and the memorial ceremony will be for immediate family members only.Interment will be at the Moravian Cemetery in Lititz, Pa., at a to-be-determined date.Dr. Swan's family suggests that, in lieu of flowers and gifts, that a memorial donation be made in Dr. Swan's name to the Alzheimer Foundation of America, 322 Eighth Ave., 7th floor, New York, N.Y. 10001, http://www.alzfdn.org.Funeral services were entrusted to the Boylan Funeral Home, 324 E. Grandview Ave., Zelienople.Online condolences and directions are available at www.boylanfuneralhome.com.