William Swire

William Howard Swire, age 93, passed away on June 8, 2020.  He was born in Albany on Sept. 23, 1926 to Marian and Abraham Swire. His sister, Judith Swire Yoffie, predeceased him.

Bill was a graduate of the Albany Academy class of 1944, U.S. Navy veteran from January 1945-August 1946, and a graduate of Yale University class of 1949.  He was the president and CEO of  Swire’s Furniture and Mayfair  Inc.   

Bill put his family and community at the heart of his daily life. He served on the boards of the Albany Academy, Congregation Beth Emeth, Daughters of Sarah Nursing Home, the Albany Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Mohawk Hudson  Community Foundation, the North Colonie Board of Education  and the Albany Institute of History and Art. He served as vice president and board member of the National Home Furnishing  Association, where he was a trailblazer to adopt modern management principles and information technology implementation. 

He received the Albany Academy Award for Distinguished Service.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Stephanie, of  64 years, his children Peter (Annie Antón), Andrew (Wendy Sherwin) and Amy Meyer (Doug Kornich) and six grandsons, Nathan, Jesse, Samuel, and Matthew Swire and Alexander and Nicholas Meyer.   Bill always relished the opportunity to encourage his wife, children and grandchildren to pursue their own unique paths with conviction and passion.  He drew on his own life experience and challenges in those discussions, sharing his insights in his autobiography, An Albany Saga, published in 2013.

Interment will be private. Contributions in his name may be made to Planned Parenthood or Community Hospice.

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