William J. Schweigart

To his friends, he was Swag. To his family, he was everything. William J. Schweigart, 70, passed away on January 20, 2011, at his home in Woodbury Heights. Swag loved dancing, traveling, racing, and flying, and he is free now to do them all again.

Born in Camden on June 10, 1940 to William and Jane Schweigart, Swag was the oldest of 8 children, including Mary Jane, Joe, Johnny, David, Raymond, Nancy, and Michael. Raised in National Park, Swag did not have much growing up, except fun - he had more than anyone. He graduated Woodbury High School, and was voted Best Dancer all four years. If you ever saw him dance, you'd understand. He joined the Navy in 1963, and served as an Aviation Machinist's Mate 2nd Class aboard the USS Lake Champlain. Swag returned and went to the Police Academy. After 3 years as a West Deptford police officer, he joined Allstate Insurance as an investigator, where he met his wife Linda in 1970. They married on May 29, 1971 and settled in Woodbury Heights. They have two children, Bill and Jaclin.

Swag began a very successful career at Mobil Oil in 1978. He was promoted steadily and named Mobil "Man of the Year" in 1991. Through his work, he became an expert in emergency management and hazardous materials. He shared this knowledge with his community by serving as the Emergency Management Coordinator for Woodbury Heights for 20 years. In 2004, he was named the Gloucester County Emergency Management Coordinator of the Year. After retiring from Mobil, Swag began a rewarding second career as Safety & Security Coordinator for the Gloucester County Institute of Technology. Swag was also a member of the Freemasons, New Jersey Education Association, Defenders of Wildlife, South Jersey Aero Club, Mantua Grove Citizen's Advisory Panel, Improved Order of Red Men, and the Lion's Club. In his free time, he read voraciously on all topics, especially security. He traveled across the country, flew airplanes with his buddies, and squeezed more performance out of his Corvettes than even the engineers thought possible.

Swag took the most pride in his family, and they adored him in kind. He is survived by Linda, his loving wife of 40 years, his devoted children Bill and Jaclin, their spouses Kate and Ben, and his darling grandchildren Samantha and Sidney. He is also survived by most of his brothers and sisters, and his friends, who are legion. In his final days, he often expressed how lucky he was to have had such a large, wonderful, and colorful cast of characters in his life. Swag was a man who knew who he was. He was neither fake nor regretful, though he wished more than anything he could have seen his grandchildren grow up. He took comfort in the knowledge that the rest of his family will etch his memory into their hearts, turn his stories into legends, and teach them his greatest lesson: Bill Schweigart took more out of life than it ever took out of him.

Visitation 9am until the Memorial Service at 11am on Saturday, January 29 at the Davis & Wagner Funeral & Cremation Services, 171 Delaware Street Woodbury, NJ. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Lighthouse Hospice, 1040 N. Kings Highway, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034.

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