Name:
Clyde T. Swisher


Date:
June 24, 1932 - February 21, 2009


Obituary:
Clyde T. Swisher, age 76, of Nyssa, Ore., passed away Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009, at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Meridian, Idaho. Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 3, 2009, at Lienkaemper Chapel, Nyssa, with Rev. Roger Williams. Burial will follow at Emmett Cemetery, Emmett. Clyde was born June 24, 1932, in Omaha, Neb. He was the only child of Dr. Clyde T Swisher and Minnie B Hynes Swisher. Most of Clyde’s childhood was spent in Emmett, Idaho. He spoke fondly of his childhood friends and of working in his father’s veterinary clinic. One of his adventures was riding the bus to Boise for piano lessons, especially after he was allowed to go alone. Clyde was an accomplished pianist. Clyde attended schools in Emmett and graduated from high school in 1950. He then went on to graduate from The College Of Idaho with a bachelor of arts in English. Scholarships he received were: teaching assistantship at Rutgers University, 1955; Shakespeare Institute, Birmingham, England, summer 1959; John Hay Fellow in humanities at University of Chicago, 1966; The Institute of Elizabethan Arts and Literature University of Vermont, summer 1968. He earned his master of arts in English from the University of Washington in 1961. He later studied at the prestigious University of Cambridge in England working on his Ph.D. degree, which was complete except for the oral-examination portion. Clyde began his teaching career in 1955 at Nyssa High and retired in 1990 after 35 years of touching countless young lives, many of whom will still tell you of the impact Mr. Swisher had on their lives. Clyde served eight years on the Oregon State Textbook Commission. Clyde was named Nyssa Teacher of the Year twice by the Nyssa Education Association. He served on the Nyssa public Library Board, to which he has donated a great number of books over the years. The Idaho Statesman named him Distinguished Citizen, in October of 1972. He was co-marshal of the 2004 Nyssa Christmas parade. The Alumni Association of The College of Idaho named Clyde the recipient of the Alumni Service Award for 2006. Clyde also guided his Book Discussion Group in Nyssa for over 40 years. Clyde was a member of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Nyssa for many years. He was a 50-plus-year member of The Masonic Lodge. Clyde’s hobbies would, of course, be collecting books and then reading them. The educational trips he took to England were a definite highlight in his life. Clyde would have made a good Brit. His dominating personality trait would be precision. Clyde was preceded in death by his parents. Memorials can be made to the Nyssa Library Memorial fund, in care of Lienkaemper Chapel, Ontario, Ore. His friends would like to thank Dr. Tinely and Aspen Rehabilitation for the kind and compassionate care they extended to Clyde over these last years. Few communities are blessed with an asset like Mr. Clyde T. Swisher. He will be long remembered and appreciated.


Cemetery:
Emmett Cemetery
1205 N Washington
Emmett, OR (map/driving directions)