Obituary of Robert E. Swope, 90

Robert E. Swope, 90, of State College, died Monday, March 29, 2010, at The Atrium at the Village at Penn State. Born March 10, 1920, in Moorestown, N.J., he was a son of the late Eber N. and Volita Atkinson Swope.

He attended Collingswood, N.J. High School and attended Gettysburg College. He entered and received the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1943. The same year, he married Viola "Vi" Lindsey, of Camden, N.J., and entered the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps and served for three years. He was discharged in 1946 as Captain. Also in 1946, he joined the University of Maryland in its research and disease control project.

In 1951, he joined the faculty of the College of Agriculture Veterinary Department at Penn State. From 1958 to 1960, he took a leave of absence to take a temporary assignment with Kansas State University in India initiating a new Veterinary School and counseling with faculty and students in establishing the U.S. Land Grant system. In 1966 he was invited by the government of Chile and the Rockefeller Foundation to assist the Veterinary School and Agricultural Experiment Station in Santiago. From there he returned to India to lead a Penn State project in Agricultural Development in Pune, India. During the two assignments, he was named Assistant Dean of Resident Education in the College of Agriculture, a position he held until his retirement in 1981 as professor of Veterinary Science and Professor Emeritus and Assistant Dean in the College of Agriculture.

During his 31 years at Penn State, Dr. Swope served on the University Senate and several committees dealing with academic affairs. He was an Elder in the State College Presbyterian Church, a secretary of the State College Rotary Club, a member of the State College Masonic Lodge #700, the Jaffa Shrine in Altoona, the State College Shrine Club of the Jaffa Temple and the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Along with his wife, he is survived by a son, Robert E. Swope, Jr. and his wife, Charlene, of Oro Valley, Ariz., and cousins Martha Adams, of State College and Elizabeth Funk, of Wilmington, Del.

Friends will be received from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 7, 2010, at Koch Funeral Home, 2401 S. Atherton St., State College. A Masonic service will follow at 8 p.m. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 8, 2010, at the State College Presbyterian Church with Rev. Joel Blunk officiating. Private burial will be in Centre County Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Shriner's Hospital for Children, 3551 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19140, or to the State College Presbyterian Church, 132 West Beaver Ave., State College, PA 16801.