Anthony and Shirley Swiech

Anthony William Swiech was born on July 12, 1933 and died of lung cancer on December 3, 2021; he had opined for some time that he had done his part to increase the average life expectancy. He was the second and long hoped for child of Stella Catherine (Rzepiela) Swiech and Matthew Vincent Swiech of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He adored his big brother, Matthew (Mickey), and despite their age difference, they enjoyed many things together, especially
making movies (with special effects - how did all those kids fit in that barrel?) and working in the family bakery, though they may have been loath to admit that. One of their movies, a Tarzan movie, filmed near a munitions plant in Central Falls during WWII got the two of them detained by the FBI for potential espionage. (Of course, dismissed.)

He joined the Army, and by not telling them he was a baker, but did the finances for a bakery, got to do financial work for them, in Germany, an adventure he greatly enjoyed. He was good with both numbers and languages and enjoyed using the German he learned there throughout his life.

Shirley Marcia (Kaplan) Swiech, born April 18, 1935, died of pancreatic cancer on April 30, 2022, a couple of years after she told God that she didn't want to make it to 90. She got her wish. Though she had been rethinking that request recently.

Born to Walter (known as Jim) Kaplan and Pauline (Vasiliev) Kaplan in Esmond, a village of Smithfield, RI, she was the second daughter, but wielded the power of being number one through sheer will power and intellect and loved to point that out. She was predeceased by her siblings Joan McKee, and Jimmy and Billy.

Always busy as a child, she was mischievous and quick to laugh, convincing friends to skip school, walk the railroad tracks, and later, play tennis. Her Baba taught her how to sew at an early age and she used her talents to make it look like she had the wardrobe of a princess; she practically invented accessorizing and loved going to dances in her creations.

Tony and Shirley met as children when he was a surly twelve-year-old when her family spent a day on his family's boat. Their fathers were childhood friends from Fall River.

In high school, she followed a business course, learning bookkeeping and shorthand, and worked at Chaput's drug store being a soda jerk. (Much to the amusement of her children.) To her dying day she enjoyed leaving messages around the house in shorthand. Secret messages that only she could decipher.

Shirley's long and multifaceted career began when she graduated from Cumberland High in 1953 and went to work as the office manager at Almadon textile company, and then again at Chadwick yarns. She was always an opinionated, intelligent, and diligent worker.

In 1956, Tony recognized Shirley at a dance at the Polish club in Pawtucket, and they started dating. In 1957, they got married. He spent the rest of his life in love with her, wanting to take care of her, and wanting her to be happy. He succeeded. They have four grown children, Karen, Kathy, Kristy, and Eric and eight grandchildren.

As a young dad, driving the delivery truck for the bakery, Tony enjoyed showing off "a delivery of his own" - probably Eric - in a basket - to his customers. His penmanship was never better than when he used a piping bag. He was a sweet and charming man who put others at ease with his warmth.

When he gave up working at the bakery, he became a distributor of women's shoes and then later was promoted to be a buyer. His daughters happily reaped the benefits of this position, en-joying more shoes than anyone needed. As a family, they enjoyed many trips to New York, where he would attend shoe shows and Shirley would walk the feet off the children acquiring culture during the day; at night they would attend plays and eat out in restaurants and get to take taxi rides. They both took up golf and enjoyed it for years, but rarely (if ever) together.

Shirley went on to head Customer Service at Zayre's, be a bank teller, and secretary for the Rhode Island Pharmaceutical Association. Her books always balanced to the penny. Looking for adventure and wanting to work in Boston, she took a job in the finance district as secretary to the president. Her lifelong love of making things saved Tony from her backseat driving by keep-ing her hands busy knitting a giant blanket while they commuted to Boston daily. Her last job was office manager at Photon Research Associates in Cambridge, a job she took mostly to be near Karen, then pregnant with their first grandchild.

Tony and Shirley retired to East Falmouth in the mid-nineties, where they enjoyed each other's company and loved to go to the beach and sit and read together; Tony's only regret (voiced at one of his yearly high school reunions) was that they didn't have the six children they originally planned on. They enjoyed many trips, notably Europe and Hawaii, their favorite. They took to grand parenting with great gusto, enjoying each addition as much as the first. She loved having them over for tea parties, and taking them to the sticker store, and beach, and just hanging out with them. For their fiftieth anniversary, Shirley and Tony had everyone come and stay with them in Newport. For her eightieth birthday, everyone stayed together in Provincetown, giving everyone wonderful memories. She knew how to throw a party.

Services will be held on Friday, June 17, 2022
Funeral Mass: 10 AM at St. Patrick's Church, 511 Main St, Falmouth, MA 02540