Joseph Swaner

Joseph John Swaner Jr., 92, of Hagerman, passed away on Thursday, May 19, 2016 at his home. Joe was born Sept. 6th, 1923 in Acequia ID, the eldest of 8 children born to Joseph John Swaner and Martha Mae Lowery Swaner. The family later moved to Hailey Idaho where as a young man; Joe worked on a farm. He enlisted in World War II and was trained as a gunner and flew in a B24 Liberator. He was deployed to England where he was assigned to the 8th Air force 491 Bombardment Group 852 bomb squad. He was a member of the crew of "Flack Shy", completing many successful missions, returning in 1945 he was honorably discharged. He remained on reserve and served again during the Korean Conflict.
In 1953 he met Trudy Schlunegger and they married in 1955. He worked at Sawtooth Ford, Queen of the Hills mine as a silversmith, then with Sun Valley Company while raising his four children in Bellevue Id. Joe was an avid skier serving as a national ski patrolman and assisted in the development of Rotorun Ski Area. Joe enjoyed rock hunting and prospecting for Gold. He was also very good at cutting and faceting gem stones for rings and bracelets. He also enjoyed making model steam engines using his small lathe.
Joe is survived by his wife Trudy Swaner, sons; Doug (Brenda), David (Karrie), daughters; Cindy Seamen (Paul), Christy Streitenberger (Stewart) and many grand and great grandchildren.
Surviving siblings are Chuck Swaner and Margret Cameron.
Joe was proceeded in death by his siblings, Pat Johnson, Robert, Don, Ivan, and Fred Swaner.
A funeral service has been scheduled for 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at the Calvary Bible Church in Hailey, Idaho.