1940-2024
Virgil Conrad Swilling, 83, of Sheridan, Arkansas, passed away October 27, 2024. He was born in Grapevine, Arkansas, on December 19, 1940, to the late Rudy and Edis Swilling.
Virgil and his family relocated to Sheridan in 1952, because they needed a home telephone for his father’s business. While we are sure that he had good times and good friends during his early childhood, the years he spent in Sheridan as a youth shaped his life. No matter where life took him, he was most at home in LA…or “Lower Arkansas” as he lovingly referred to it.
Virgil was a proud member of the Sheridan High School graduating class of 1958. This class was a tight knit group, and he never missed one of their annual get-togethers. He made many more lifelong friendships as a member of the Phi Lambda Chi fraternity at Henderson State University. Once a Reddie, always a Reddie, even when both of his daughters chose to go to that “other school” across the street.
He proudly served his country as a part of the Arkansas Air National Guard, and he was deployed to Japan during the Pueblo Crisis. Following his discharge, Virgil moved to Dallas where he met Jenny Speer. After their wedding in Vivian, Louisiana, they settled in his hometown. While a work transfer did have them move to Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the mid-1970s, he returned to Sheridan as soon as he had the opportunity. It was there that he raised his family while working in the construction and logging equipment industry.
Virgil never met a stranger, and he had friends from all walks of life. He made his rounds. Mornings (and after retirement afternoons, too) were spent at one of the local breakfast spots, solving the world’s problems. Last year was the first year that he missed opening week of deer season, at either Allen Hunting Club or Sheridan Boys Club, though he might have enjoyed hunting squirrel even more than deer. Other times over the years you might find him at MPE, Teeter Chevrolet, the Sheridan Golf and Country Club, the Sheridan softball fields, the Sheridan High School gymnasium or football field, out having lunch with the former county judges from the Ouachita Mountain region, hosting bi-weekly poker games (where we are convinced they made up games and rules), or at the Social Club in Prattsville. He loved to entertain. His stories are legendary, as are his fried fish, smoked ribs, crawfish boils, and pies. Oh, the stories that would be told if the Swilling home and shop walls could talk! Our lives have just gotten a lot quieter, and there is a hole that can never be filled.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Maxine Davenport. Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Jenny, of Sheridan, daughter Stacey Swilling and her husband Michael Skorcz of Salt Lake City, Utah, daughter DeAnna and her husband Justin Hackler of Sheridan, beloved grandson Gray Hackler, step-grandchildren Daniel and Garrett Skorcz, and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and friends that meant so much to him.
Visitation is planned for Thursday, October 31, 2024, at Memorial Gardens Funeral Home in Sheridan from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. The funeral will be at 2:00 pm on Friday, November 1, 2024, at the funeral home, with burial following at Lost Creek Cemetery. J.J. Harrington will officiate.
Pallbearers will be his nephews, Boe Caldwell, Lee Hall, Seth Thomas, Kevin Butzlaff, Kendall Butzlaff, and Jim Butzlaff. Honorary pallbearers are the members of the SHS class of 1958, his Phi Lambda Chi brothers, and members of the Allen and Sheridan Boys Club hunting clubs. Memorials may be made to the Grant County Museum, 521 Shackleford Road, Sheridan, AR 72150.
The family would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. Shane Kimball and the teams at Renal Associates and Fresenius Kidney Care and Dr. Jeff Mayfield of Baptist Health, Benton, for their compassionate care.
