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William R. Swing ’51

A picture of Bill Swing

Bill Swing ’51 (far right) served as executive assistant to Senator Mark Hatfield

William Randolf Swing ’51, June 10, 2004, in Portland, from natural causes. Bill joined the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II. Following the war, he attended Olivet College in Michigan, then earned a bachelor’s degree from Reed in political science. He married Yvonne Hauser in 1947; they had eight children, and later divorced. Swing joined KPTV in 1952, as Oregon’s first television news director; and was a reporter for the Oregonian and a stringer for the New York Times and the National Observer from 1957 to 1967. In 1967 he moved with his family to Washington, D.C., to be an executive assistant to Senator Mark Hatfield. In 1969, he operated the first television news bureau in D.C. for Chris-Craft Industries. He returned to Portland, and became KATU-TV news assignment editor and reporter in 1972, moving to KPTV as news director in 1977; he retired in 1991. In retirement, he opened Bill Swing Rare and Fine Books in downtown Portland, specializing in modern American first editions. Bill also enjoyed the arts, travel, fly-fishing, and cooking. His professional associations included the Radio-Television News Directors Association, the Oregon Bar/Press/Broadcasters Joint Committee, Associated Press Broadcast Services. He volunteered for the Reed alumni association as vice president in 1954 and as director in 1955. Survivors include his six daughters and two sons, 17 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and two sisters.

Appeared in Reed magazine: November 2004