William Morton Swift

[ Age 85 ]Veteran was a Beth Steel manager

William Morton Swift, a retired Bethlehem Steel Corp. manager and World War II veteran, died of cancer Aug. 3 at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Loch Raven Rehabilitation Center. The Harlem Park resident was 85.

Born in Baltimore and raised in West Baltimore, he was a 1939 graduate of Frederick Douglass High School. During World War II, he served as an Army truck driver in northern France and Germany.

He retired in 1983 from Bethlehem Steel at Sparrows Point as a manager in the mechanical maintenance department.

Services were held yesterday at Morning Star Baptist Church of Christ, 1063 W. Fayette St., where he was a lifelong member and church administrator.

Surviving are his wife of 59 years, the former Lilly Pleasant Maiden; two sons, Ronald Swift and Gary Swift, both of Baltimore; a daughter, Deborah Swift-Bailey of Baltimore; and four granddaughters.