Lucile E. Swearingen passed away on Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 10:20 a.m. at Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland, Mississippi. She had been living in Madison, Mississippi for the past two years with her daughter and son-in-law. Lucile was born in Decatur on February 17, 1906, to Mary (Walters) and William Engle. She spent most of her life in Decatur, graduating from Decatur High School in 1924. Following high school she attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After college she boarded the train and traveled to North Dakota where she taught in a country school for a year. She returned to Decatur and on August 17, 1928, she married Milton Swearingen. Together they ran Swearingens Dairy on Monroe Street from 1940 until moving to the corner of Hwy 27 and Nuttman Avenue, where McDonalds is now located. There they ran Swearingens Dairy Bar until the early 1950s. Lucile then commuted daily to Fort Wayne where she worked for Fishmans Department store in downtown Fort Wayne. Lucile was a member of the Decatur Womans Club and Tri Kappa Sorority for many years, serving in various capacities in those organizations. Later she was also a member of the Shakespeare Club. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church during her years in Decatur. In 1987 she moved to Texas with her daughters, living in Fort Worth and Corsicana before returning to Decatur in the mid 1990s. She lived in Decatur until May of 2004 when she moved to Madison, MS to live with her daughter. In February Lucile celebrated her 100th birthday in Madison. Attending the celebration were her two daughters and their husbands, six grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandson. Lucile was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her son John, her two brothers John and LuVerne Engle, and her sister Ruth Durkin. She is survived by her two daughters, Mary Ann Schieferstein (Norman) of Fort Wayne, Emily Murphy (Ken) of Madison, Mississippi,a nephew William Durkin of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and her seven grandchildren, Bill Frick of Seattle, Washington; Melissa Hawkins of Pine Mountain, Georgia; Jim Engle of Madison, Mississippi; Beth Parker of Burleson, Texas; Melinda Paul of Pearland, Texas; Jennifer Threet of Rice, Texas; and Michael Banks of Fort Wayne. She is also survived by 15 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 10:00 AM on Friday, May 19, 2006, at the Zwick & Jahn Funeral Home in Decatur, with visiting hours on Thursday, May 18th, from 2:00 to 4:00 and 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Preferred memorials may be made to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation or to the First United Methodist Church in Decatur.
