He was born on July 17, 1951, in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, a son of the late Donald Samuel and Mildred Finch Swartz.
Don grew up in the Headlee Heights area and was a 1969 graduate of Mapletown High School. In 1973, he graduated with a degree in Education from California State College in Pennsylvania. He later earned collegiate degrees in Automation Technology, Numerical Control, and Drafting and Design.
He taught industrial arts in Steubenville, Ohio. Later, he worked in variety of roles, including electrician, at Maple Creek Mining. After a nearly 30-year career, he retired as a Federal Mine Inspector with Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Don spent much of his life enjoying time with his family at their cabin and participating in water sports in Deep Creek, Maryland. He loved live music, automotive racing, boating, reading, and water and snow skiing. He enjoyed coaching the Frazier Simplex Junior Rifle team and was a Boy Scout leader. He proudly achieved Eagle Scout status within the Boy Scouts Organization. Most of all he loved the time he spent with his grandson.
Surviving are his two sons, Donald Samuel (Debra) Swartz II of Denver, Colorado and Glenn Thomas (Elise Crowder) Swartz of Morgantown, West Virginia, a grandson, Jackson Swartz, a brother, William C. (Joyce) Swartz and a niece, Jocelyn Rae, of Plainfield, Indiana.
A graveside service will be held on Friday, January 28, 2022, at 1:00 pm at Centennial Cemetery, Aleppo; followed by a Celebration of life service at 4:00 pm in the Meadow Ponds Club House, 1 Par Lane, Maidsville, West Virginia 26541. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial donations to the Frazier Simplex Junior Rifle Team, C/O Nikki Dunn, 120 Kemp Lane, Washington, PA 15301. Condolences may be expressed online at www.behm-funeralhomes.com.
