Larry D. Swing

Larry D. Swing age 74 of Bonners Ferry, ID passed away peacefully on Dec 15th in Kootenia, ID Services to be held Later and will be announced. He was born on Jan 3rd 1942 in Worland Wyoming to Glen and Betty (Barngrover) Swing. He grew up on the family farm with his sister Lois (Halsey), they helped raise Hereford cattle and crops including sugar beets, barley, alfalfa & corn. His love mechanics and fabricating began on the farm as well as during his time helping his uncle Harry in the oil field. In school Larry was active FFA , 4H and enjoyed working on cars. After graduating from high school he joined the Navy at the age of 18. He was stationed in San Diego CA on the USS Wiltsey as a Machinist’s Mate in the engine room. He was honorably discharged as a Petty Officer 3rd class in 1964. While in San Diego, he met the love of his life, Judy (Cook)Swing from Bonners Ferry. They were married on Sept 12th 1965 in a double wedding with Judy’s twin sister June and David Burnett. They lived in Worland for a year and moved to Casper when Larry and two partners bought a Big A Auto Parts Store. He sold his part of the business in 1971 and moved to Bonner’s Ferry. He and brother-in-law Larry Pinkerton bought out Glauner Marine & Sporting goods and Larry’s Sports Center was born. They sold motorcycles and snowmobiles, guns, fishing tackle & a variety of other sporting goods. He later bought “Pink” out and operated the store until 1982. The original store was in what is now the Herald office and the latter location is now Mugsy’s. Over the years following the sale of the store Larry drove a variety of trucks including a ’69 Peterbilt log truck for Beloit Mendenhall and cement mixer, lowboy & dump trucks for BF Redi-Mix. He bought his own logging truck & operated it for a year and a half. Realizing he didn’t enjoy being an owner/operator that much, he sold the truck & focused his energy on the repair/fabrication/restoration shop at his home. In his shop ,he repaired & restored numerous cars, trucks and old tractors for hire or sale. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 51 he began restoring many antique toys. This led Larry to be featured on the cover of Toy Trucker Magazine with a toy logging truck that he had restored and customized . this was not the first time he was in a magazine, during his high school days Larry, his dad, his chemistry teacher and several classmates were featured in The Saturday Evening Post with their rocketry experiments. Larry is survived by his wife of 51 years Judy, son Ken Tammy Swing, their kids Tyler & Kaylie, daughter Shelly Swing-Polzin (Aaron Polzin), their kids Peyton & Kailyn , sister Lois (Swing) Halsey & Mike LeMaster. He was preceded in death by his parents Glen & Betty Swing, sister Karen Swing, grandparents B.K & Martha Swing, Stella & Clair Barngrover.