The Paris News

Friends and family packed the Chamber of Commerce community room to wish happy retirement years to a man who spent the past 32 years making a positive impact in the community.

What was intended to be a retirement party for long-time community leader Paul Swasko seemed to be just as much a reunion of friends.

Dozens explored the multitude of photographs and newspaper clippings from years past, from Swasko’s advocacy days, Chamber of Commerce leadership years and rotary years, to many other events with family and friends.

Derald Bulls and Dr. Edward Clark talked about their friend, often in jest, playing off of Swasko’s outgoing personality and antics throughout the years, but also speaking of the time and effort he put forth in Paris, and in every area of his life, including his family and career.

Clark described Swasko and his family as close friends of the Clarks for the past 30 years.

He entertained the crowd as he joked about the interesting meals stemming from Swasko’s vegetarian habits and memorable birthday events.

“Birthdays were great; we would have new games and games that we would have a new take on, but, they always had Swasko rules,” he laughed.

But Scrabble challenges with Swasko, Clark said, took the cake, as Swasko tended to make up words — especially on trips where no dictionary was available.

Clark’s speech also had a serious tone to it, and pointed out Swasko’s work ethic and service to the community.

“A quote that I’ve used once before of Paul, it’s from Mother Teresa, and I think it fits Paul well, is: ‘Prayer need not interrupt your work, rather we should continue working as if it were prayer,’” Clark said.

Bulls, dressed like a blues brother reminiscent of a past skit he and Swasko performed together, kept the crowd entertained while outlining Swasko’s impressive resume, including educational attainments, community leadership roles, numerous honors and his wealth of professional experience.

Swasko’s resume details career accomplishments, community activities, numerous honors received and his wealth of professional experience.

He graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Master of Science in Social Work, the University of Arizona with a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies, Carthage College with a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and Spanish, participated in World Campus Afloat and attended the Madison Institute for Healthcare Philanthropy.

Community activities would be more easily listed for what he did not have a hand in — Swasko has been a part of the large majority of civic boards and clubs in Paris. He served as chairman for the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce, past president of Greater Paris Rotary and United Way chairman among numerous other positions. He also co-founded Keep Paris Beautiful in 1999.

Swasko’s honors include the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Social Workers of North Texas, the 2002 CHRISTUS Health Touchstone winner, twice named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International and also twice named Outstanding Rotarian of the Year.

His professional experience extends most recently to president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Community Foundation, president and CEO of CHRISTUS Health Foundation system and director of philanthropy at CHRISTUS Health in Irving. He has also served as director of Community Planning, Development and Advocacy at CHRISTUS St. Joseph’s Health System and as educational director for Texas Department of Human Services. He also served as a social work consultant in his own private practice.

Bulls spoke, too, about his own positive experiences working with Swasko for a time.

“There was never a dull moment,” Bulls said. “It was certainly one of the highlights in my time of working together, of working period, was my time side by side with Paul.

Swasko thanked Bulls and Clark for their words and spoke about his experiences with the community.

“Somebody once said if the magnitude of the gratitude is measured by the brevity of the remarks, then I’ve already spoken too long,” he said.

“I’m the one that’s beenreally blessed here,” he said. “When I reflect back on my years in the community... ultimately what hit me, and it’s true today as I stand here before you, is I’m not retiring from a job, that job was my life. It’s all around this room and these pictures and each of you. The Bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive, and I’ve had the chance to give my whole life, and it’s been such a blessing and I don’t know why I’ve been so lucky. But as Groucho Marx once said, ‘the one thing I want to do before I quit, he said, is retire.’”

The Swaskos have been in Paris since 1975, and he talked about the wonderful people and experiences he has had in the community.

“Paris is a wonderful place,” Swasko said. “We raised our kids here — to this day we count our blessings.”

Although Swasko said he is retiring, his definition of retirement life might be different from others.

“I don’t know, because I’ve never done this before,” Swasko said when asked what he was going to do with his retirement. “...We’re going to keep our house in Paris. We have a place down on Lake Cypress Springs, so we’re going to keep that too, but we’re going to travel a lot, and then we are going to look for some opportunities for some volunteer or maybe mission work.”

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