Howard Lyle Swain

Howard Lyle Swain, 78, of Cupertino, unexpectedly passed away on Nov. 24, 2024. He was born in Des Moines on May 10, 1946, and grew up in Dallas Center, Iowa. After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineering from Iowa State University in 1969, Howard accepted a position with Hewlett-Packard and moved to Palo Alto, California. He took classes and received a Master’s degree from Stanford University in 1972. At HP, Howard was an engineer and manager, and also served as a lecturer and advisor to graduate students at Stanford. He is survived by his sister Ann Ewan and her daughters Lindsay Ewan and Katie Collins; and his brother Roy Swain and his son Benjamin Swain.

Growing up, Howard became an excellent musician on the baritone and piano, played in the occasional “family band” and was a gifted piano accompanist to the family singers. In California, he carefully built from kits both a harpsichord and a pipe organ. He was an expert in classical music, an avid reader of science fiction, and a lover of board games and card games. As an adult, one of Howard's main hobbies was square dancing, and then round dancing, attending classes as well as the dances. He avidly researched and collected family genealogy, with charts on his walls and many shelves of genealogy books. One of his greatest loves was watching old-time movies from the 30’s and 40’s, and he could quote lines from many of them.

His friends and family knew Howard as a gentle, good soul who will be dearly missed.

A private memorial service took place on Dec 6th.