Glendean Irby Swearingen

Glendean Irby Swearingen, 95 of Birmingham, passed away early Wednesday morning, December 30, 2020, at Fair Haven Retirement Home in Birmingham. A memorial service is planned for a later in 2021. Interment will be in Elmwood Cemetery

She was born June 26, 1925, to Wiley and Hattie Mae (Collins) Irby, in Chatom, Alabama, and lived most of her youth in State Line, Mississippi. She was salutatorian of her high school class and earned an associate degree at Clarke College in Mississippi. She married Robert LaRhoy (Rhoy) Swearingen on September 1, 1946. They lived briefly in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, moved to Oregon while Rhoy was in graduate school, and then settled in Birmingham, Alabama, where they remained for the rest of their lives.

Glendean worked as registrar at McElwain Elementary School for several years, and then went back to college, earning a bachelor’s degree at Howard College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and a master’s degree after Howard became Samford University. Then she taught first grade at McElwain School for the rest of her career.

She was for many years an active member of McElwain Baptist Church, as a Sunday school teacher, mission’s leader, and church librarian. For fifty years, she lived across the street from the church and the school where she taught. She was also involved in Campers on Mission and many ministries for both the Birmingham and Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union, including several missions’ projects. She loved to travel, and has been in all fifty states and most of Canada and visited a number of other countries around the world. She also loved reading, working jigsaw puzzles, and watching University of Alabama football games.

Glendean leaves a daughter, Rachel Ann Ball of Montgomery; a son and daughter-in-law, Robert Glen and Janice Swearingen of Murphysboro, Illinois; four grandchildren, Jeffrey Swearingen, Michael Ball, Jonathan Ball, and Lauren Swearingen; and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; three sisters, opal I. V. Balik, Mary Lois Stringer, and Anene Ristow; and two brothers, David Irby and Paul Irby.

A graveside service & burial for Glendean will be held Tuesday, January 5, 2021 at 11:00 AM at Elmwood Cemetery & Mausoleum, 600 Martin Luther King Jr Dr, Birmingham, AL 35211.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.johnsridoutselmwoodchapel.com for the Swearingen family.