Fred Swearingen Jr.

FRED JONES SWEARINGEN JR "SONNY" passed away January 2, 2017. He was the son of the late Fred J. Sr. and Chastine J. Swearingen. He was born February 25, 1938 in Colonial Heights, VA. He is survived by his wife of 57 years and college sweetheart, Charlotte P. Swearingen; daughters, Tami L. Swearingen of Colonial Heights and Sandee Swearingen and husband, Jeff Green of S. Chesterfield; his only brother and business partner, Ted L. Swearingen and wife, Grace; two nephews, Ted Swearingen Jr. and Blake Swearingen. He is also survived by his beloved chocolate Lab, Annabelle. He graduated from Petersburg High School in 1955 where he was a star athlete in three sports and an All-American football player. He then accepted a four-year scholarship in football to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated in 1959. While there he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. He was selected to the All State and the All ACC Football Teams in 1958. Upon graduation, he was drafted by the New York Giants. Instead of a professional career in football, he chose to partner with his father and they established Swearingen Realty Co. one of the Tri-Cities largest real estate and custom home builders. A vast majority of homes and subdivisions were developed by Fred, including Mt. Pleasant Acres, Briarcliffe Sub., Edinborough Sub., Trojan Woods, Windsor Hills and White Bank Landing. He was also a Life Spike Member of the Home Builders Association of Southside Virginia and a member since 1960. He and his father developed several commercial properties in Petersburg and Colonial Heights. He served on the Board of Directors of First Colonial Bank '97-'01. Fred was a past President of the Southside Virginia Association of Realtors 1966-1967, and had been a Licensed Realtor since 1959, achieving Omega Tau Rho-Emeritus Status with VAR in 2005. He was Past President of the Tri-Cities YMCA and President of Colonial Heights Development Corp. He was an avid hunter and established Hickory Hunt Club and served as the President. He loved boating, fishing and time spent on the Rappahannock River at his summer home in Deltaville. He was a member of the Tri-Cities Sr. Golf Association and a lifetime member of Colonial Heights Baptist Church. Special thanks goes out to all his loving caretakers who have dedicated their services especially Debbie Taylor. A visitation will be at The Heights Baptist Church, 17201 Jefferson Davis Highway, Colonial Heights, VA, 23834 on Thursday, January 5, 2017 from 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. with funeral services to be Friday, January 6, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at The Heights Baptist Church. Interment will follow in Sunset Memorial Park, Chester, VA. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Heights Baptist Church, Swearingen Scholarship Fund. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Colonial Heights Chapel of E. Alvin Small Funeral Homes and Crematory, 2033 Boulevard.

Visitation Details

Thursday, January 5th, 2017 6:00pm - 8:00pm, Colonial Heights Baptist Church

Service Information

Friday, January 6th, 2017 11:00am, Colonial Heights Baptist Church