David Eugene Swindell Jr.

David Eugene Swindell, Jr., lovingly referred to as "Captain" died peacefully at home on June 1, 2010. A viewing will be held at 4 p.m. EDT, Friday, June 4th, at Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home, Riggins Road Chapel, Tallahassee. The viewing will be followed by a memorial service at 5 p.m. EDT. Dave will be buried in Ocala, Florida on Saturday June 5th where graveside services for the family and close friends will be held in the old section of Woodlawn Cemetery on NE 3rd Street at 3 p.m. EDT. In each instance, the family will receive condolences from friends immediately following the service.

Dave was a native Floridian, was born and raised in Ocala, Florida. He was 89 on his birthday this year, which was May 14th. He served as a Captain in the Army during World War II in Germany where he was shot while leading the capture a village strategic to holding the Allied front. For this great act of bravery he was awarded a purple heart and a silver star and for his continued demonstration of courage and perseverance of character, "the Captain" was a hero to many. After the war, Dave attended the University of Florida where he earned a Bachelor's and Master's in Biology. He then went to work for the Florida Game and Fish Commission in 1949, serving for many years as a wildlife biologist in a variety of places including Gulf Hammock, Williston, and Perry. He became the first regional director for the Commission in 1951; he later moved to Tallahassee and became the Commission's Personnel Officer in 1960, went on to become the Internal Investigator in 1979 and retired from the Commission in 1985. His retirement has been spent in Havana, Florida enjoying nature through hunting, fishing, canoeing, hiking the backwoods of Florida and also romping about with his long time family of bird dogs currently Havana's Miss Lucy Lou and General Robert E. Lee. Along with his wife of 60 years, Betty T. Swindell and their son David, the family spent a good deal of their off time in Franklin, North Carolina where the family owned a cabin that had been passed down from one generation to the next for almost 100 years. Dave, Betty and David all belonged to the St. John's Cartoogechaye Episcopal Church in Franklin and were an integral part of that mountain community which included a life long friendship with legendary mountain man, muzzleloader maker and mountain Fox Fire craftsman, Arthur Huscuson. Dave shared a love of guns, primitive crafts and exploring the great Smokey Mountains with Arthur. Dave also shared his experience and exploration of the Florida woodlands and backwoods with many other outdoorsmen, introducing the outdoor life style and a love of primitive crafts, gun making and all things outdoors to many younger men throughout his life. There is not enough space or time here to delve into the prolific volume of stories of alligator adventures, Florida panther tales or outlaw hunting yarns that made up the ongoing storytelling repertoire of Dave, whether it was sitting around a camp fire entertaining and educating the youngsters or just reminiscing at the dinner table with old friends; there was always an adventure or a prank to be remembered, recalled and usually hilariously embellished. Those were the days; those were the legends of those days and the rough and tough men who lived them as real everyday life. We are saying goodbye to a generation who laid a foundation of conservation of all things wild and precious to the natural resources of our state, instilled solid moral values in the lives of everyone around them and demonstrated the courage and grit to stand tall for who they were and what they believed in. We honor Dave as one of a vanishing breed of outdoorsmen who are leaving a legacy through the mentoring of several generations coming behind them, praying that education will allow us all to fight to preserve the fragile and vanishing natural resources of Florida.

Dave is preceded in death by his wife, Betty Swindell and his son David E. Swindell III.

He is survived by his devoted daughter-in-law, Marjorie Gail Swindell; his brother James Swindell, his wife Bobbye, their children Gene and Dottie; a first cousin John Lane, his wife Elaine, their children Karen and Phil; and all the many family members associated with these relatives. In lieu of flowers please send donations in memory of Dave to the Big Bend Hospice at 1723 Mahan Center Boulevard, Tallahassee, Florida 32308.

Arrangements are under the direction of Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home, Tallahassee, FL.