Obituaries

Benny Edgar Swindell

Photo of Benny Edgar Swindell
Benny Edgar Swindell, 69, of Bentonville, died Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012, in Rogers. He was born in Bentonville on Sept. 12, 1942, to Condrey and Leota Mason Swindell. He was raised on a farm in the Mount Pleasant community near Hiwasse and graduated from Gravette High School in 1959. He obtained a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Arkansas in 1963 and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Arkansas Law School in January 1967. From 1967 until 1971, he served as an officer in the United States Air Force assigned to the Office of Special Investigations. While stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, he married Linda Mitchell of Jacksonville on June 20, 1969. In June 1971, Benny and Linda moved to Clarksville, where he began the private practice of law. He later served as municipal judge of Johnson County, juvenile referee of Johnson County and circuit-chancery judge of the Fifth Judicial District of Arkansas. While in Clarksville, he served as president of the Clarksville-Johnson County Chamber of Commerce, chairman and member of the board of directors of Johnson Regional Hospital, president of the Clarksville Kiwanis Club and lieutenant governor of Division 20 of the Mo-Ark District of Kiwanis International. For 19 years he was the "voice" of the Clarksville High School football Panthers on radio, and one of the highlights of his amateur broadcasting career came in 1990 when he and Steve Rinke were joined in the broadcast booth by then-Gov. Bill Clinton as they shared doing the play-by-play account of the Clarksville-Lamar game and conversed on the air on a first-name basis less than two years before Clinton became the 42nd President of the United States. Benny had tapes of the broadcast made and stored with instructions they be passed on to his descendants. In 1999, he retired from the judiciary and returned with his wife to Benton County to enjoy a slower pace in life and to help care for his parents, who were seriously ill. He was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Bentonville. He also was a 32nd-degree Mason and was a member of Franklin Lodge No. 9 in Clarksville. The love of his life was his family. He especially enjoyed annual family trips to Disneyworld/Disneyland with the children and grandchildren. The last trip to Anaheim was taken the week before he became ill. The days there were filled with love. Benny is survived by his wife of 43 years, Linda of Bentonville; son and daughter-in-law, Kevin Swindell and Renee Swindell of Bentonville; two daughters, Jennifer Mason of Claremore, Okla., and Karen Hill of Rogers; two sons-in-law, Matt Mason of Claremore, Okla., and Braden Hill of Rogers; six grandchildren, Anna Mason, Thomas Mason, Allison Swindell, Andrew Mason, Lydia Hill and Caroline Hill; one brother, Dr. William Swindell of Rogers; and one aunt, Mildred Wasson of Tulsa, Okla. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, at Callison-Lough Funeral Home in Bentonville. Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday at First Baptist Church in Bentonville, officiated by Pastor Phillip Smith and Pastor Billy Ray Ussery, retired pastor from First Baptist Church in Clarksville. Burial will follow in Mount Pleasant Cemetery near Hiwasse. The family extends a special thank you to Dr. Steven Rosenfeld, Highlands Oncology Group and the sixth floor nursing staff at Mercy Medical Center in Rogers for their many kindnesses to our husband, dad and Poppy. Memorials, in lieu of flowers, should be made to the building funds at First Baptist Church of Bentonville, 220 S. Main St., 72712; or at First Baptist Church of Clarksville, 924 S. Crawford St., 72830. Arrangements are by Callison-Lough Funeral Home of Bentonville. Online condolences may be made at www.callisonlough.com.

Published August 2, 2012

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