Covenant News

Covenanter Receives Wheaton's 2005 Alumnus Award

CHICAGO, IL (May 13, 2005) - John C. "Jack" Swanson, a longtime Covenanter and member of Glen Ellyn Covenant Church, was presented the 2005 Alumnus of the Year Award for Distinguished Service to Society by the Wheaton College Alumni Association.

The presentation was made during alumni weekend May 6-8. The award recognizes Swanson's commitment to serving others with his gifts of administration and teaching.

Swanson served on staff at Covenant Harbor Bible Camp in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and as youth pastor at Bethesda Covenant Church in Rockford, Illinois, where his parents were founding members. Since 2002, Swanson has served on the management advisory committee at Windsor Park Manor, a Covenant Retirement Community in Carol Stream, Illinois.

Swanson began a career in education that spanned more than 30 years after graduating from Wheaton College in 1949 and earning a doctorate from Northwestern University. He was a teacher and principal at several schools, receiving national recognition for his 13-year-tenure as superintendent of the Oak Park-River Forest High School beginning in 1974.

After Swanson retired in 1987, he and his wife, Eleanor, spent a year in the Philippines as short-term missionaries. While there, they worked in a squatter area of Manila and helped establish a church, pre-school and medical clinic as well as development projects.

After returning from the Philippines, the Swansons moved to the inner city of Chicago. He spent five years as interim director of several inner-city programs, including the Austin Christian Law Center, the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation and the Lawndale Christian Health Center.

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