Obituary published on Legacy.com by Halley Olsen Murphy Funerals & Cremations - Lancaster on Oct. 1, 2025.
Michael Alan Swan passed away in his home in New Braunfels, Texas on September 16th, 2025 at the age of 30.
He was born in Northridge, but raised in
Lancaster, California. As a kid, he was always creating something. He would build giant apartment complexes out of legos. He would take things apart to see how they worked and how to make them better. And he always had his music as loud as he could. He spent several years of his childhood playing baseball at El Dorado Little League, which became a second home to his family with the amount of hours spent on practices and games there. And one thing about Michael, he loved Monopoly. It was his favorite board game, and he'd bend the rules in every which way to make sure that game would last as long as possible.
As cheesy as it sounds, to know him really was to love him. From friends we have met or heard from since his passing, one thing that continues to come up is how he was family. He would end up in a new city, sometimes a new state entirely, he would find new friends, and they would become another branch in his family tree.
Michael was always willing to help someone out. From setting up for an event, to lending his couch to crash on, he wanted to be there for us and he prided himself on being able to provide a shoulder for his people.
Something else he was deeply proud of was his time in the military. He started his army journey in Missouri at Ft. Leonard Wood for his training and eventually landed in Fort Hood, Texas, where he felt he had finally found a home. When he was discharged in 2022, he left as an Army SGG of the B Rifle Company, Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fire Control and CBRN specialist. He was decorated with several awards, but one he was most proud of was the Expert Marksmanship Badge with Carbine Bar. He loved to rub it in the faces of the guys who would give him a hard time about being gay, proving again that being gay was not something that would make him any less than in any field.
He later left to New Haven, Connecticut to try out the East Coast Gilmore Girls inspired life. While there, he attended Southern Connecticut State University and became a "pillar in the community" of his neighbors. He even branched out and joined a bowling club, a new pastime he wanted to try because, why not! But as much as he loved it, he realized that he was really a cowboy at heart and returned to Texas.
In New Braunfels, he found himself a home with a beautiful view of the river. He transferred to an online school and was on his way to finishing his bachelor's degree. He wanted to make Texas his home, and he was starting to build up this next phase of his life.
Michael lived a life that took immense bravery and confidence. He had so much trust that he could make it work wherever he landed, that he could find yet another community to grow in. He knew there was a place for him in this world and he was determined to find it no matter how many moves it took him.
With his passing, it's important to remember that he fought for his life for as long as he could. He used to keep reminders up for himself in his home, one of them being "In the end, everything will be okay. If it's not okay, it's not the end."
His remains were cremated at Sunset Memorial Park and Crematory in New Braunfels, Texas. His ashes will be spread in places of significance by his immediate family.
He is remembered by his mother Janie Sierra-Swan; his father Patrick Swan; his three sisters, Sierra, Cassandra, and Samantha; his two nieces Sophie and Lily; his nephew Frankie; and all of the friends who became his family throughout his life.
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