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Notes for Jesse Swartout:
The Ridgefield Press (11/1/2003)
Jesse Swartout, 21, student, artist, athlete
Jesse Tomys Sherwin Swartout of Ridgefield, a gifted artist, athlete and writer, died Friday, Oct. 11, near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where he was a senior at Skidmore College. He was 21 years old.
Mr. Swartout was born on Long Island, N.Y., on Sept. 13, 1981, a son of Torin and Anne Swartout of Ridgefield. He lived in Hempstead, N.Y., and Arlington Heights, Ill., before moving to Ridgefield in 1989 when he was eight years old.
He attended Ridgebury School, East Ridge Middle School, and graduated with high honors from Ridgefield High School in 1999.
As a boy he played sports and was active in Cub Scouts. “He was an outstanding soccer, basketball and baseball player, long remembered by those who played both with him and against him,” his family said.
“Jesse was an insightful and intelligent young man, with outstanding artistic talent,” his family said. “His drawings and paintings could be deeply moving, or could reflect his wonderful sense of humor. He majored in English and philosophy at Skidmore, and was a voracious reader and seeker of deeper meaning. Jesse’s writings were intricate and cerebral, and he enjoyed philosophical discussions and debates.”
A violinist in his younger years, he enjoyed playing guitar and listening to avant-garde modern music.
“He was a kind and loving person, always thinking of other people before himself,” his family said.
He loved to travel and had visited Norway, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. One of his favorite memories was taking a cruise to Alaska with his grandmother, Eileen Swartout of Ridgefield.
“He loved nature and was an accomplished outdoorsman, able to make fire using the same tools as Native Americans used centuries ago.”
Besides his parents and his Ridgefield grandmother, Mr. Swartout is survived by his brothers Jason and Joseph, and his sister Katherine, all of Ridgefield; his grandparents, Joseph and Wynelle Washington of London, Ontario; his great-grandmother Mattie Washington of Punta Gorda, Fla.; and several great-aunts and -uncles, as well as aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends.
Services took place Wednesday at the First Congregational Church.
Contributions may be made to the Anasazi Foundation, 1424 S. Stapley Drive, Mesa, AZ 85204.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
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