WJ Bill Swank, 71
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 3 hours, 7 minutes AGO
In memory of my dad, WJ Bill Swank. Dad's body died a year ago today, but his soul lives on in Heaven.
He was born to a logger and a hair stylist of North Idaho, and on his second day of life, his dad's body died, and his mom was left to care for him with the help and love of her family. At 13, he gained a new family when he and his brother became one of 10 at the home of Babe and Pat Riplinger.
To honor his foster dad, my dad entered the funeral service as a second-generation funeral director. He was known for his high moral standards, his skills in sculpture and restoration and his compassion for the families he cared for.
In the summer of 1985, he was looking through the Nickel Nik for a used snow blower and found an ad misprinted in the used equipment section, "Looking for a good man that loves the outdoors." He was the 24th out of 25 letters read by my mom, who placed the ad. She never met number 25. The night my parents met, she soon went to a payphone to call her mom and say she'd found the man she was going to marry. A few months later, they married in the snow, with snowball fights and flute music by Tara. My parents had me, and they took in my two honorary sisters, Tara and Nikki, for a while when I was little. Dad helped buy Tara her first car. She drove it for years and was proud of it until it finally started to fall apart.
Dad would use his work skills to do my nails, hair, and makeup whenever I asked. His love language was pushing us to be the best we could be. He bought and started several businesses with Mom; the favorites were a flower shop and a muffler shop. He taught me how to fell trees, chop wood, care for chickens, ride a motorcycle, give myself mani-pedis (which he would also get with me), gold pan, weld, woodwork, draw, drive and how to survive a strong river current on my own, strength, compassion and independence. He built me toys, stilts, a fort and so much more.
I love you, Daddy. I miss you being in your body, but I know you are always around me. I love you. Des
Swank