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• _FSFTID: 9XSK-7ZN
• _UID: 0E2C2BB02047416B86E4C304DD943A7175BF
• Residence: 1880, Bangor, Van Buren, Michigan; where he lived with his parents and siblings
• Residence: 1900, Covert, Van Buren, Michigan; where he worked as a teacher
• Residence: 1910, Covert, Van Buren, Michigan; where he lived with his family and worked as a mail carrier
• Residence: 1918, Van Buren, Michigan; when he registered for the WWI draft
• Residence: 1920, Covert, Van Buren, Michigan
• Residence: 1930, Paw Paw, Van Buren, Michigan; where he worked as a county treasurer

Notes:

Obituary - The Hartford Day Spring, Wed. Oct. 19, 1938
Ex-County Treasurer John Swoap Ends Life
Wife Finds Covert Man’s Body In Auto
Had Been Prominent In Business and Politics and I. O. O. F. Grand Lodge
COVERT - John W. Swoap, 65, Van Buren county treasurer from 1928 to 1934, treasurer for the past eight years of the Michigan Grand lodge, I. O. O. F., and long a prominent resident of this community, ended his own life at his farm home northeast of this village Monday morning by using carbon monoxide fumes from the exhaust of his car.
His body was found in the fumes filled car at 6:30 by his wife, the former Miss Bertha Spainhower, to whom he was married in 1936. Ill health was the only known reason for his act.
Coroner Fern E. Calvin of South Haven attributed death to suicide, and no inquest was held. The body was taken to the Calvin mortuary in South Haven, where funeral rites will be held at 2:30 Thursday afternoon. The Rev. Karl Keefer of Gladwin, grand master of Michigan Odd Fellows and former Methodist pastor of Watervliet, will officiate and other I. O. O. F. grand lodge officers will attend. Masonic ceremonies will be conducted at the grave in Covert.
Mr. Swoap had long been prominent in both Odd Fellow and Masonic circles. He had been an officer of the I. O. O. F. grand lodge for fifteen years, and aside from serving as its treasurer the past eight years he had also handled the I. O. O. F. funeral benefits for the past three years. He was a 32nd degree Mason and was the first master of the Covert lodge. He also served Covert township for several years as supervisor and two years ago was an unsuccessful candidate for the state legislature.
In earlier life Mr. Swoap served as a city mail carrier in South Haven, until the death of his father-in-law, Sam Kenney of Covert, when he took over the Kenney dry goods and grocery store in Covert. His first wife, Edna Kenney Swoap, died in 1929. In 1936 he married his present wife, a former nurse in a New York state hospital, handling occupational therapy cases. They had retired to a recently purchased farm northeast of town.
On Sunday Mr. and Mrs. Swoap returned from a motor trip to Wichita, Kan. On Monday Mr. Swoap had planned to attend a meeting of I. O. O. F. grand lodge officers in Lansing, but ended his life before starting for that city.
Surviving him are his wife, a son, Orlo Swoap of Kalamazoo, formerly associated with him in business in Covert, and two grandchildren.

NOTE: Preceding obituary mentions wife as Bertha Spainhower whom he married in 1936 but John's death record and later legal papers mention her as Elizabeth S. Swoap. John Swoap was engaged to a Georgia Spainhower for approximately one year + until her death in March 1935 according to the News Palladium 26 Mar 1935. Which facts are correct?

Residence:
where he lived with his family and worked as a merchant in a general store. Edna's mother Carrie Kenney was also living in the household at this time

Buried:
in Covert Cemetery, Lot 282-2

John married Edna Browning Kenney on 1 Dec 1904 in Covert, Van Buren, Michigan. Edna (daughter of Samuel D. Kenney and Carrie Amanda Shattuck) was born on 7 Oct 1877 in Covert, Van Buren, Michigan; died on 13 Aug 1929 in South Haven, Van Buren, Michigan; was buried on 16 Aug 1929 in Covert, Van Buren, Michigan. [Group Sheet]

John married Elizabeth in 1936. Elizabeth and died. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• _FSFTID: L553-JTV
• _UID: 197E1EA359A6403CB1B616FEF1318E434179
• Residence: 1910, Covert, Van Buren, Michigan; where he lived with his parents
• Residence: 1920, Covert, Van Buren, Michigan; where he lived with his parents
• Residence: 1930, Covert, Van Buren, Michigan
• Residence: 1 Apr 1940, Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Notes:

Buried:
Kalamazoo, Michigan

Orlo married Aileen Esther Hempy on 2 May 1931 in Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri. Aileen (daughter of Wilbur John Hempy and Nellie Esther Wolford) was born on 4 Apr 1908 in Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri; died on 23 May 1998 in Carlsbad, San Diego, California; was buried in Kalamazoo, Michigan. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• _UID: 926F8399D06F4DD4AA1B3B7EA55B74E756E4

Living married Edwin Merton Strong. Edwin (son of Frederick Leslie Strong and Ruth Thornton Martin) was born on 1 Sep 1930 in Battle Creek, Calhoun, Michigan; died on 12 Mar 2011 in Willoughby, Lake, Ohio. [Group Sheet]

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• _UID: 466AFBA97DCF45D489DD62F74B19D037E38C

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• _UID: 12FFDCC91D0A4A8B82ABD192E3282A980F4C

Living married Living. [Group Sheet]

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• _UID: E8CDF79887C94D03A0C425CC9FCF5B85872B

Living married Living. [Group Sheet]

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• _UID: 1D9C73D6237B4F11807CC48EDB1395C09109

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• _UID: 287D3E3442CD4D84BBFBE53FF4540AE20578

Living married Living. [Group Sheet]

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• _UID: 910604D6DE2B4057947E9BD917C6A1E8FD19

Living married . Unknown [Group Sheet]

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• _UID: 3A72A8117BBD481DAA4C3447DECF7F3AD92F

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• _UID: E7BADD7A852546E28A01C3AA2822733BBA81

Living married Living. [Group Sheet]

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• _UID: CF449D57E5FC458882C1DACF8DA0E801B75A

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• _UID: A78D8312207541919E787FFC644BC897CFA7