Mrs. Suzanne Neild Swift

March 5, 1936 - March 23, 2022

On March 23, 2022, Suzanne Neild Swift, loving wife and mother of four children, passed away of natural causes at the age of 86 at the Broadmead Retirement Community in Cockeysville, Maryland. Suzanne lived a full and adventurous life that spanned three continents, two languages, and wonderful times with family and friends. Suzanne was born on March 5, 1936, in Southampton, England to Eliot Phillip Rayleigh and Muriel Dean Haller. Her family lived in Surrey and Cheshire, England, until 1940, when Suzanne moved along with her mother and her two sisters, Catherine and Felicity, to Argentina where she spent most of her early childhood in Buenos Aires and on an estancia (ranch) in the province of Cordoba. Her father served in the British Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and died while on active duty in October 1940, when his cable ship struck an enemy naval mine and sank in the English Channel. Suzanne eventually returned to England at age 13, where she lived in the London neighborhoods of Kensington and Knightsbridge while attending boarding school at Saint Helen’s Northwood until age 16. She continued to live in London with her mother where she attended secretarial school at London Polytechnic and worked until age 21. On June 2, 1953, on a lark with school friends, Suzanne camped-out in Green Park near Buckingham Palace, on the historic occasion of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Her youthful and patriotic spirit persisted throughout her lifetime. In 1957, Suzanne traveled to Boston, Massachusetts, and lived with her paternal Aunt, Kay Ingalls. Although only intended as a temporary stay, it was there she met David Leslie Swift who became her husband of almost 40 years. They were married on June 6, 1959, at St. Paul’s Union Church in Chicago, Illinois. Subsequently they lived in Baltimore, Chicago, and England before eventually retuning to Baltimore permanently in 1967 where she and David settled in the Idlewylde Community near Towson. Here she raised their three sons, Charles, Kevin, and Austin. A fourth son, Christopher, died as an infant in 1972. Suzanne was an active member of Central Presbyterian Church in Towson, where she served faithfully and joyfully alongside others, many of whom became life-long friends. She encouraged academic achievement, Scouting, sports, and love of God and country for her sons. She enjoyed family camping trips and had a great fondness for nature, gardening, music, and the arts. During this time, she supported her husband’s academic career at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. After raising her sons, she spent a year in Denmark with David during his sabbatical at Copenhagen University. She also traveled extensively with David for his work and for pleasure, visiting many dear family and friends along the way. David died in 1997 after a long illness with Suzanne caring for him throughout. Suzanne established a scholarship fund named in honor of David, at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which is awarded annually to graduate students in the department of Environmental Health Engineering. After David’s death Suzanne continued living in the Towson area. She moved in 2000 to the nearby Armagh Village Community where she lived and lovingly cared for a classic Rodgers Forge townhouse until 2018 when she moved to Broadmead Retirement Community. Suzanne traveled and enjoyed spending time with her children, grandchildren, extended family, and friends in South Carolina, Idaho, Florida, and other locations. She volunteered at the Ladew Topiary Gardens in the Monkton area of Harford County, both in the gift shop and Butterfly House, and was also a paid docent giving guided tours of the Ladew Manor House. Travel adventures took her to Yellowstone National Park for two summers where she worked in the Old Faithful Village and twice on cruises through the Panama Canal with Semester at Sea. She also spent time in Gloucester, Virginia, at a cottage near her sister’s home on the Ware River. In Gloucester she trained to become a Master Gardener and was a strong advocate for the cultivation of native trees and plants to support insect pollinators. Suzanne was also a gifted artist and talented with fabric arts, especially knitting and crocheting, which she had learned as a child. She considered herself to be a life-long learner, had a natural curiosity about a wide variety of subjects, and enjoyed conversations with others on almost any topic. Suzanne’s direct, engaging, and often pointed conversational style was legendary and remembered fondly. Her life verse, taken from the Old Testament Book of Proverbs, was a reminder that wisdom came not so much from her own insight but from putting her trust in God. In addition to her parents, husband, and infant son, Suzanne was preceded in death by her dear sister, Catherine Heaney, and three brothers-in-law, Norman Swift, Olaf Rask, and John Heaney. She is survived by her sons Charles, Kevin, and Austin; her daughters-in-law Deborah Stenkamp, Chi Swift, and Julie Swift; her dear sister Felicity Ericson; her brothers-in-law John Ericson; also survived by a beloved extended family including six grandchildren (Camila, David, Lauren, Rick, Jenny, and Iris, who all have fond and richly detailed memories of their “Granny”), two great-grandchildren, three nieces, and four nephews. A public Memorial Service of Witness to the Resurrection is scheduled for 11 AM on Friday, May 20th, 2022, at the Central Presbyterian Church in Towson, Maryland at 7308 York Road. For those unable to attend in-person a live stream webcast of the service will also be available on Central Presbyterian’s Vimeo channel https://vimeo.com/centralpc . All in-person attendees are invited to visit with the family following the service, where a reception and light refreshments will be served in the Courtyard Room adjacent to the sanctuary. Donations in memory of Suzanne Swift may be made to: 1. Central Presbyterian Church https://www.centralpc.org/give, select “Memorial Donations Fund” and in memory of Suzanne Swift. 2. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health David Leslie Swift Fund in Environmental Health Engineering https://secure.jhu.edu/form/bsph in designation drop-down select “Other - please specify” and enter “David Leslie Swift Fund in EHE” and in memory of Suzanne Swift on the following page.