Memorial dedicated at PCES

Family and friends of beloved Spruce Pine resident Kevin Charles Swinney gathered on Friday to dedicate a memorial that family members say would’ve meant a lot to him.

Instead of a marker or statue, which are common ways to memorialize a person, Swinney’s family opted for something that would have warmed the heart of the lifelong Franklin County resident who was known for his smile, positive attitude and a love of helping others.

Family members decided after Swinney passed away from an acute form of leukemia in January of 2010 to set aside an area of the Phil Campbell Elementary School playground and rename it “Kevin’s Corner,” which would be a shady place for children to play and learn outdoors.

Landscaping and clearing of the corner was finally complete and ready for dedication on April 22, which would’ve been Swinney’s 37th birthday.

Swinney’s sister, Laura Voyles, said her bother would have loved the memorial because, prior to his passing, he had served as a volunteer at Phil Campbell Elementary where he was affectionately known by all the students as “Coach Kev.”

The shady place for students to play or for classes to go outdoors was also significant because, in addition to leukemia, Kevin suffered from a rare genetic disease called Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), which causes a defect in the body’s mechanisms that are used to repair DNA mutations caused by ultraviolet rays.

Because of this condition, Swinney had to keep out of the sun and would have to stay close to the tree line near the playground whenever he was volunteering at the school.

“If Kevin had his way, he would’ve wanted a memorial that would benefit everyone, not just be a tribute to him, which is exactly what Kevin’s Corner is,” Voyles said. “It pays tribute to his volunteer work and love for these students and, because it will be shady, it would have been a place he could have gone when he was outside.”

The students will love the freshly landscaped corner of the playground, which is now equipped with flowers, shrubs, picnic tables, trees and a sign created by family friend and local metal worker, Burt Hutcheson.

PCES Principal Jackie Ergle said Swinney was an assert to her school and she was honored to have the memorial there where the kids and teachers could enjoy it every day.

“Kevin was an inspiration to all of us, and those kids loved him as much as he loved them,” Ergle said. “He taught us a lot through the way he acted. He always had a smile on his face despite his circumstances, and he really put life into perspective. He made us look at ourselves because he did so much good while going through so much bad, but he never sat back. He was always right there.”

Swinney’s mother, Elise Swinney, said her son could really relate to the elementary students because he was “just a kid at heart.”

“When he was at camp in New York one camper asked him if he was having fun and he told them he could have fun watching the grass grow,” Elise Swinney said. “That was just the kind of person he was.”

Swinney’s best friends, Shane Stancil and Jeremy Stowe, agreed with Elise Swinney’s view of her son because they said they would have funny memories of him for as long as they lived.

“Where do I even begin talking about all the fun we had?” asked Stowe, who became friends with Swinney while working together at Wal-Mart in 1995.

Stowe said he, Swinney, and Stancil, Swinney’s friend since he was nine years old, would play basketball at the little gym at Phil Campbell and would listen to a certain CD on repeat.

“We’d all go to the little gym on Sunday nights after work and while we were there we’d have to listen to the ‘Space Jam’ CD about three times through,” Stowe said with a laugh. “It was Kevin’s favorite CD.”

But Stowe said while their time with Swinney was always full of laughs, they were also able to learn a lot from the person Swinney was day in and day out.

“The one thing about Kevin that was always true was that he was a very optimistic person,” Stowe said. “He always saw things on a better side. He never let his disease stop him from doing what he loved and making others happy.”

“To see the adversity he went through and the attitude he had about it made me a better person,” Stancil added. “Kevin said he had wondered all his life why God gave him that disease, and he finally said that it was his gift. He said it made him who he was and he had a real burden on his heart to do something more in life and to use it for good. I really admired him for that.”

Daryl Butts, who was Swinney’s pastor at Temple Baptist Church in Phil Campbell, said he could always count on Swinney to lend a helping hand at church, especially with children’s activities like Vacation Bible School and Sunday School classes.

“Kevin enjoyed being around people and he didn’t ever want to be down,” Butts said. “This memorial is a reflection of him and the life he led and I think it just highlights the aspect of encouragement he always had.”

Voyles said she knew the students will enjoy the memorial to “Coach Kev” because they loved having him around and really missed him once he got sick and couldn’t come volunteer anymore.

“The kids wrote him cards and I’d bring a stack home every day,” said Voyles, who works as a counselor as PCES. “This is a great way for the everyone to remember Kevin and what he meant to this community.”