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2010 Heart of Paris Gala chairmen announced
The Paris News
Published March 18, 2010
Judy and Jerry Bawcum along with Betty and Paul Swasko have been chosen to serve as Honorary Chairmen of St. Joseph’s Community Foundation Heart of Paris Gala 2010, set for Oct. 9.
Each year the foundation board chooses Honorary Chairmen as a way to recognize and honor those persons who have made significant contributions to their community.
The Bawcums are known in Paris for having a heart as big as Texas. After moving to Paris in 1989 to open Toyota of Paris, they immediately got involved in making their new hometown a better place to live and raise a family. They have delivered numerous meals to the elderly through the Meals on Wheels program, donated truckloads of food to Christians in Action, and provided back to school clothes for children in the Lamar County Head Start program.
The Bawcums also funded the first-ever Thanksgiving Feast for elderly people who were spending holidays alone. This program serves around 400-500 meals per year. After almost 20 years this Thanksgiving tradition continues even today, with the entire Bawcum family — kids and grandkids alike — all taking an active part at this special time.
It is this type of giving that leads them to be selected for numerous awards over the years. Jerry Bawcum received the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow Award recognized by Rotarians as the ultimate service award. For 20 consecutive years, Toyota of Paris received the Toyota President’s Award, which is given for excellence in all aspects of dealership operations and community involvement. Each year this award winner is featured in a full page article in Time Magazine.
In 1992 they received the Texas Corporate Volunteer Award. In presenting the award, former Gov. Ann Richards said, “It’s impossible to put a price tag on the work these people do. Their gift of time and energy is not only invaluable to those they help, it is also invaluable to the rest of us who benefit from seeing the true meaning of community and concern for our fellow human beings.”
The Bawcums’ attitude of giving has permeated its way into the Toyota of Paris employees. In 2001, Toyota employees completely furnished a room at the Children’s Advocacy Center as a surprise Christmas gift to honor Jerry and Judy Bawcum. The Bawcums have also sponsored kid’s day at Jan-Kay Ranch for more than 150 kids, and donated many items, including a car, to the Optimist Club Auctions to raise money to benefit the youth of Lamar County. They were the organizer and underwriter of a program that allowed hundreds of kids in Lamar County to be photographed and fingerprinted to help prevent abductions and abuse.
Jerry Bawcum has served as board member for several organizations including St. Joseph’s Community Foundation where he served as chairman, Lamar County Human Resource Council, Paris Education Foundation, Lamar County Child Welfare Board, RSVP and the former CHRISTUS St. Joseph’s Health System Foundation. Jerry volunteered his time to be a mentor through the Paris Education Foundation Mentor Program spending countless hours guiding young people. As an Army veteran, he supports the Red River Valley Veteran’s Memorial project.
Judy Bawcum, who enjoys playing golf and tennis, volunteers her time as a hospice worker, as a hospital auxiliary volunteer and at the Agape House Medical Clinic. Both of the Bawcums are long-time members of Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church and volunteer with the St. Vincent DePaul Society. Judy Bawcum serves as a Eucharistic Minister at the church, plays the organ and is a member of the Church Women United group. She has accompanied Jerry on medical mission trips to Nigeria through Agape House Worldwide Ministries. They have four grown children — Glen, Matthew, Diana and Andrea — as well as eight grandchildren. The Bawcums will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Oct. 1, 2010.
When told of being selected as Honorary Chairmen, Jerry Bawcum said, “Judy and I are honored to join the company of the distinguished Gala chairs who preceded us in supporting the Mission of the St. Joseph’s Community Foundation. We are particularly proud to serve with our good friends Paul and Betty Swasko, and we look forward to an exciting Gala.”
Betty and Paul Swasko have been residents of Paris since 1977 and, like the Bawcums, have left their mark on the Paris community as a result of their countless hours of service. The son of a Lutheran minister, Paul Swasko has sought to follow his father’s example of service above self. He has held leadership positions in a variety of social, civic and religious organizations.
He has served as president of the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Lamar County United Way Campaign. He was president of the Lamar County Council of Community Services, and he helped organize and was the first president of Keep Paris Beautiful. He served as vice-president of the South Sulphur Regional Development Association and served on many local boards such as the Salvation Army, Paris Living, RSVP and Leadership Lamar County, of which he is a recipient of the “Outstanding Alumni” award. He was a member of the Greater Paris Rotary Club for many years serving as president and also serving as the assistant governor of the district for two years. In 2000, he led a Rotary Group Study Exchange team to India.
Betty Swasko has participated in many community activities over the years. She served for eight years as a Girl Scout leader and as a member of the Girl Scout board of directors. She has been very involved in Holy Cross Episcopal Church during the past 30 years including the choir, co-leader of the youth group, youth mission trip leader, Sunday school music and pastoral committee. She also served as a member of the YWCA board of directors, Lamar County Education Coalition Committee, the Chamber of Commerce’s Recycling Committee, and she served in leadership roles in North Lamar Band Boosters, North Lamar Drama Boosters, North Lamar U. I. L. Boosters, and the United Way Committee on the PJC Campus.
Both of the Swaskos volunteered their time on medical mission trips in Oaxaca, Mexico, in collaboration with “Los Quijotes” medical group from San Antonio. They both have received the prestigious Rotarian service award called the Paul Harris Fellow and are currently working on their Texas Master Naturalist certification.
Prior to his retirement in July 2009, Paul’s professional experience included president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Community Foundation, president and CEO of CHRISTUS Health Foundation and director of philanthropy at CHRISTUS Health in Irving. He 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 has also served as a consultant in social services to more than 25 hospitals and home health agencies in Northeast Texas and Southeast Oklahoma.
“I’ve never really stopped being a social worker,” he said. This is evident by the fact that he received the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award by Texas Social Workers Association of North Texas. He was also one of three finalists for the state award.
Paul Swasko holds a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Arts in Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona, and bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and Spanish from Carthage College. He also participated in World Campus Afloat studying around the world. It was on this study/travel adventure tour that he met his wife, Betty. She was from Texas and he was from Chicago, but fate brought them together in Athens, Greece, at the Acropolis. They married three years later and are celebrating their 39th anniversary this year.
Betty Swasko’s career experiences range from high school mathematics teacher to staff development specialist with the Department of Human Services to computer and educational consultant. For almost 20 years, she was a mathematics instructor at Paris Junior College. While there, she served on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Teacher Certification Field of Study Committee and was chosen by her peers for the Master Teacher award in 2000.
For the past 10 years of her employment with PJC, she became very passionate about professional development for K-8 teachers in mathematics. She wrote and was awarded grants totaling $380,000 through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. These Eisenhower grants made possible local professional development opportunities for all the school districts in Lamar County. Referring to the privilege of working with K-8 teachers, she said, “This was the icing on the cake because the opportunity to teach at PJC — to be a small part of the educational growth and development of young people and older adults returning to school — was a daily joy.”
Betty Swasko holds a Master of Mathematics from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Government from the University of Texas at Austin. She attended the World Campus Afloat and the University of Arizona at Guadalajara, Mexico. She also did post-graduate work in mathematics at Texas A&M University-Commerce and Sam Houston State University.
Paul and Betty Swasko have two daughters, Laura and Kristi. Both are married and living in the Dallas area. Laura has a daughter, Clara Jane, who is 2 years old, and she is expecting Paul and Betty’s second granddaughter in March of this year.
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