Getting acquainted with the Swifts

In a recent edition of the community’s newsletter The Gleanings, residents George and Anita Swift shared some amazing details about their travels, family and how they came to move to Westminster Gardens in 2009. For many of their fellow neighbors, they learned something new about the couple. Check it out below:

Q: Are you both from the same hometown?

A: No, Anita was born and raised in Sierra Madre; and as a ‘preacher’s kid,’ I was born in Michigan and grew up all over. The first town where I lived for more than three years was Jena, Louisiana—a small town in the middle of the state. I guess I adopted Jena as my ‘hometown.’

Q: What about your schools?

A: Anita attended Sierra Madre Elementary School, Wilson Junior High, and high school at Pasadena Junior College before transferring to Upland College Academy. I attended schools in West Hollywood, Phoenix, and a number of grade schools in Louisiana. Moving back to southern California, I enrolled in Upland College Academy.

Q: How did you two meet?

A: Anita transferred to Upland for her senior year of high school when I was a freshman in Upland College. We soon met, after I first laid eyes on Anita.

Q: Please tell us about your travels, in the United States and overseas.

A: I was born into a pastor’s home and lived in one until we retired in 1997. I traveled first to the places my father pastored in California, Arizona and Louisiana; later we traveled to the places where I pastored in Michigan and California.

Anita and I visited Israel with a group, and enjoyed a cruise to Alaska. We took several trips with family including going to Germany, northern Arizona, and a cruise along the Panama Canal. After I retired, I made thirteen trips to Mexico to help build or repair church buildings.

Q: How did your vocation begin, George?

A: My vocation began with a direct, divine call to ministry when I was ten years old in

Louisiana. I directed my studies in high school, college, and seminary classes toward fulfilling this call.

Q: Anita, how have your dreams been fulfilled?

A: In the various seasons of my life, I feel I completed my ministry as a very busy mother with our four children. I also assisted George in the pastoral ministry for forty-five years; as a pastor’s wife, I did many different jobs. After the children left the nest, I taught school, which I enjoyed a great deal. This was a special blessing to me.

Q: How did you decide to come live at Westminster Gardens?

A: After Anita faced some health concerns, we began looking to the uncertainties of the future. Anita had always been concerned that if she died before me, and both of us recognizing that I was a ‘people person.’ The question for her was: ‘how would I survive alone?’

After checking out a number of communities, we found just what we wanted at Westminster Gardens. The community was open spaces surrounded by nature, easy and interesting walking, no strict dress code, and a place where it would be easy to mingle with others and develop new friendships. And we are both still here together!