Life
Bill Swank was born in Chicago on June 17, 1940, to parents William George Swank and Estelle Jensen Swank. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from San Diego State College in 1962. He was a Supervising Probation Officer for the County of San Diego from 1963–1994. He has three children, Eric William Swank, Karen Swank-Fitch, William Corey Swank, as well as two grandsons, Matthew Fitch and Brendan Swank. He currently lives in San Diego, California, with his wife Jeri Lynne (Bessie) Swank, whom he married in 1986.
Swank has campaigned since 1988 to get San Diego's first major league baseball player and early home run king Gavy Cravath elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. His scale model of Lane Field (built in 1997) is on permanent display at the San Diego Hall of Champions. Following the release of his award-winning book, Echoes from Lane Field (1999), Swank has extensively explored the history of baseball in San Diego and helped honor many local players including Pete Coscarart, Johnny Ritchey, Floyd Robinson, Manuel Hernandez and Ted Williams.
Swank has been Santa Claus for Christmas on the Prado in Balboa Park, San Diego, since 2002. He also volunteers as Santa for several other charitable organizations in San Diego. As "Baseball Santa," he played second base for the House of David from 2003 through 2008. In 2009, Baseball Santa began giving baseball equipment to Little Leagues in Mexico.
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Famous quotes containing the word life:
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