William “Bill” Swanson was born in August 1924 in Taft, California. His parents, William E. and Helen Sall, were first generation children of Swedish immigrant farmers. Helen died tragically a couple of weeks after the birth of their second son, Glen, in 1926. Then in Glendale, California, a single father with an infant and young son, William tried desperately to provide for his boys and keep his job, hiring housekeepers and neighbors to watch the boys. Ultimately raised by their loving grandmother, Bill and Glen remained there until the outbreak of WWII and Bill’s enlistment in the United States Marine Corps.

After the war, Bill returned to Glendale where he met his future wife Rita Dolores Rockefeller. They married in Santa Barbara and took their honeymoon along the coast to San Francisco. They bought a small house in the orange grove suburbs of L.A., raised two children, and later had two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Bill retired from the City of Los Angeles Water & Power Dept. in 1986. In retirement, they enjoyed 3rd Marine Division reunions where they made many close friends. They had a wonderful life together. Rita passed away in 2013 and Bill now lives near his family in Imperial Beach, California.