Lyman Alexander Swingle
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Lyman Alexander Swingle (November 6, 1910–March 14, 2001) was one of the members of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Swingle was born on November 6, 1910, in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, but soon afterward the family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. There, in 1913, his parents became Bible Students, as Jehovah's Witnesses were then called. Over the years, the Swingle household entertained many visiting speakers from the Witnesses' Brooklyn headquarters, and these men had a profound influence on Lyman. In 1923, at 12 years of age, he was baptized.
Lyman Swingle began his service at Jehovah's Witnesses' world headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, on April 5, 1930. He served there for nearly 71 years. Lyman was first assigned to the bindery, then to the pressroom, and he also helped make ink. In fact, Swingle spent about 25 years in the ink room. He also served for some 20 years as a member of the headquarters' writing staff. For the final 17 years of his life, he worked in the Treasurer's Office.
Lyman was a zealous evangelizer. In his early years in Brooklyn, he and his roommate, Arthur Worsley, used to sail one of the Witnesses' boats up the Hudson River. Using amplifying equipment, they passed many weekends broadcasting their message to onshore communities.
After serving for more than 26 years in Brooklyn as a single man, Lyman married Crystal Zircher on June 8, 1956. They were inseparable, sharing in the ministry together until Crystal's death in 1998. About three years earlier, Crystal had suffered a stroke that had left her badly disabled. Swingle was often seen pushing his wife's wheelchair as they distributed religious magazines in their preaching work.
Although suffering physically, on Wednesday, March 7, ninety-year-old Swingle attended a meeting of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses of which he was a member. The following Tuesday his condition worsened, and at 4:26 a.m., March 14, he was pronounced dead by his doctor.
