Luke Swann

Luke Swann was born December 8, 1982 in Washington DC to Wendy Vasquez and Bobby Swann. He grew up in Des Moines at the Catholic Worker, where he made his lifelong friends, more brothers than friends, Omar, Landon, Fernando, Julius, Josh, Jordan, Kary, Jann, Shawn, Rhashida and Janelle. Luke grew up a child of community, the Catholic Worker and the Friends Meeting, and he always felt grounded there. Luke died way too young and he leaves behind a multitude of people who loved him and his capacity to make a friend out of anyone and everyone, to set a goal and head straight for it, to put his family and especially his children ahead of everything, to make deep friendships that were more like family than anything else. Luke got dealt a lot of rough cards in life and not all of his decisions were good ones, but he always managed to look at his situation clearly, bounce back and keep it moving. He was brutally honest with himself and others, willing to take the consequences of his actions right up to the end. He had a clear idea of what it is to be a man and he lived it. He was fiercely loyal, passionate about his family, both here and in DC, devoted to his children and his adored sister Kaydee. We who love him will miss him forever.