Fayetteville, N.C. John Howard Swope, the Fayetteville area's industry recruiter for many years, died in the Hock Family Pavilion Hospice Center in Durham, N.C. on December 7, 2012. John was 89 and was born in Lebanon, Pa. to Emily Joanna Strack and Howard Henry Swope. Preceded in death was his wife of 55 years, Orinda Frances Hoover Swope and a daughter Donna Alane Dutkiewicz. Is survived John David Swope of Clinton and a daughter Karen Swope of Durham; a sister, Dorothy Jean Harvey of Southampton, Pa. and a niece Cindy Bonilla of Fayetteville along with many nieces and nephews. John was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville, N.C. for over 48 years. He served as a deacon and taught Sunday school in the Calvin Class. His son John attained the rank of Eagle Scout through the church sponsored Boy Scout Troop. Funeral services will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, N.C. on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. with the Reverend Dr. Donna Fowler-Marchant officiating. The family will receive friends in the church parlor prior to the service at 10:00 a.m. Interment will be in Longs Cemetery in Halifax, Pa. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Salvation Army to help the homeless at 220 East Russell St. Fayetteville, N.C. Governor James Martin in 1990 awarded John Swope the North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine. The award is the state's highest non-military honor presented to a civilian for public service. He received the Commanders Award for Public Service from the Department of the Army and the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg. John Swope was named the Executive Director of the Fayetteville Area Industrial Corporation in 1964. This organization brought to the Fayetteville area the following plants and new jobs. Rohm and Haas (2300 employees), Black and Decker (1500), Purolator (1450), DuPont-Fayetteville Works (750), Kelly Springfield/Goodyear (3500), Cargill (125), Elk Cotton (140), Suffolk Chemical (25), Western Publishing (825), Trissi-Avanti (250), Monsanto (250), Fiber Industries (275), Morganite (30), and Westinghouse/Cutler Hammer/Eaton (700). Employees totaled 12,120. John graduated from Lebanon High School and was president of his class of 304 in 1939. After high school he was employed in the cost accounting department of Bethlehem Steel Company in Lebanon, Pa. He graduated from Dickinson College and attended Franklin-Marshall College under the Marine Corps V-12 program. He completed graduate work at Temple University Graduate School of Business. Also did graduate work at Notre Dame, Georgia and Penn State. During college John enlisted in the Marine Corps. His tours of duty included Parris Island, Camp Lejeune, Quantico Officer's School, Camp Pendleton, Guam and Tientsin, China. In China he was assigned to the Judge Advocates Office of the III Amphibious Corps. He prosecuted Summary and General Court Martials and also taught Naval Law. There was a shortage of officers in the Jag office due to personnel homeward bound. Swope was assigned to prosecute, as the Trial Judge Advocate, the General Court Martial of a Marine officer accused of mistreating Native Americans in a brig on Saipan. The court martial was convened at the request of the Secretary of Navy, and the Commandment of the Marine Corps. Lt. Col. Herman H. Nickerson was the president (Judge) of the court martial in China. He later commanded as General Nickerson, Camp Lejeune and the Marines in Vietnam. During his career John was active in Community Affairs. President of the Fayetteville Kiwanis Club. Designated by Kiwanis International a Distinguished Club President. Kiwanis Legion of Honor member for over 45 year's service. Received from Kiwanis in 1970 the E.J. Wells Cup (Civic Service), the Strupler-Williamson Cup (Best Program) and the Highsmith Cup (Best Committee Chairman). During his presidency the Fayetteville Kiwanis Club was a awarded the winner in the Diamond Section for multiple service in the two Carolinas. Fort Bragg Military Advisory Council. Director Northeast Industrial Development Association. Chairman of the Fort Bragg-Cumberland County Commisssion on Dangerous Drugs. AARP Board of Directors. President Carousel Social Club. President, Braxton Bragg Chapter, AUSA. President of the North Carolina Industrial Development Association. American Economic Council. Southern Council. He received awards from the following: Home Builders Association of Fayetteville, City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County, 317 Tactical Air Wing-Airlifter-Pope AFB. Commendations from Senators Jesse Helms and Terry Sanford. Letters from Generals Carl W. Stiner, James L. Lindsay, and John W. Foss and Major General James Guest. Realtors Cup (Fayetteville's Oscar) for community service from Fayetteville Area Board of Realtors. Services entrusted to Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home of Fayetteville, N.C. and Hoover-Boyer Funeral Home of Millersburg, Pa. -------------------------------------------------- From the Fayetteville Observer: Cumberland County's first industrial recruiter - credited with luring the Kelly-Springfield Tire Co., DuPont, Purolator and Black & Decker to the area - has died. John Howard Swope, a former director of what is now the Fayetteville Regional Chamber, died in his sleep Friday morning. He was 89. During the 1960s and '70s, Mr. Swope recruited some of Cumberland County's largest industries. He led industrial recruiting or chamber functions in Fayetteville for 26 years before retiring in 1990. "He was definitely a mover and shaker in Fayetteville as far as economic development," said Fayetteville businessman Wick Smith, who was a member of the Kiwanis Club with Mr. Swope. Mr. Swope came to Fayetteville in 1964 from Harrisburg, Pa., to take over the former Fayetteville Area Industrial Commission, a private industrial recruiting agency for Cumberland County. His first big score was Rohm Haas, a plastics operation that located here in the mid-1960s and eventually employed 2,300 people. "John had a vision for our community. He worked hard and with a great deal of enthusiasm to promote this community's assets," said Glenn Jernigan, 73, a state representative from Fayetteville during Mr. Swope's era of aggressive recruiting. During World War II, Mr. Swope was among the Marines being organized in Okinawa for the planned invasion of Japan. Following the war, his unit was sent to China on a peacekeeping mission. Frank Everette, who had known Mr. Swope since 1972, called the ex-Marine as persistent and hard-nosed in his business dealings as a developer. "He brought in several industries that employed a lot of people," said Mr. Everette, 89. "Kelly-Springfield (now Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.) was one of them." In 1976, Mr. Swope served as president of the Kiwanis Club, an organization he joined in the late 1960s. His son, John D. Swope, who followed in his father's footsteps in the economic development field, said the club served as an important part of his father's life. Visitation: Tuesday December 11, 2012 from 10am to 11am in the parlor at First Presbyterian Church Funeral: Tuesday December 11, 2012 at 11am in the sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church Burial will be in Halifax, Pennsylvania at the Long Cemetery at a later date Mr. Swope will be buried in the family plot in Halifax, Pa., alongside his wife, Frances. He is survived by his son, John, of Clinton; a daughter, Karen Swope, of Durham; a sister, Dorothy Jean Harvey of Southampton, Pa.; and a niece, Cindy Bonilla of Fayetteville, along with many nieces and nephews.Visitation: Tuesday December 11, 2012 from 10am to 11am in the parlor at First Presbyterian Church Funeral: Tuesday December 11, 2012 at 11am in the sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church Burial will be in Halifax, Pennsylvania at the Long Cemetery at a later date