Gary Swanson passed away November 17 at the age of 92 at his Leawood home. Gary was known for what he did during his retirement years–recording war stories from thousands of World War II veterans for the Library of Congress. He shared those stories and those who lived it in monthly presentations for his Living History Series at the Trailside Center in south Kansas City. His last project, until the day he died, was raising funds for a Leawood Veterans Memorial.
Despite his passion to honor WWII veterans, Gary was not a military man himself. Having grown up during the war, he appreciated the valor the soldiers mustered to fight in the European and Asian combats.
Gary was born on September 28, 1933, in Marquette, Kansas, and was raised in Council Grove. He attended Kansas State University where he met his wife, Lola. They married and had three daughters. Gary devoted his life to his family and his career with IBM. Before retirement in the 1990s he was the branch manager for IBM’s Kansas City office. He took early retirement but still worked for another computer company.
At the age of 67, he retired and took up a friend’s suggestion to interview WWII vets for the Library of Congress. For the next 20 years he volunteered his time to interviews, traveling to homes to record 1076 veterans from all branches, including nurses.
A retirement hobby that turned into a mission caught the eye of the National Daughters of the American Revolution and he was presented with its Medal of Honor, its highest award.
In 2020 he retired his volunteer job. As a members of the Leawood Parks Board, he began pushing the City of Leawood for a Veterans Memorial. That project was approved by the City of Leawood in 2024 and a fundraising campaign was kicked off on Armed Forces Day on May 17th, 2025 with Gary there to help celebrate.
A memorial for Gary is planned for January. To honor Gary, the family suggests donating money to the Leawood Veterans Memorial at leawoodveteransmemorial.org. His official obituary can be found on the Amos Funeral Home website.