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Thursday, February 17, 2000 Page: 5A
EXETER – Phillip Swainbank, 36, of Byrd Street, died Wednesday at his home
after a lengthy battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.\ Since he was diagnosed in
1995 with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, the clinical name for Lou Gehrig’s
Disease, Swainbank and his wife, the former Patricia Faltyn, worked to make
the disease more bearable for others. The couple in 1998 went to Washington
and presented a petition signed by more than 3,000 area residents supporting
a bill to support drug research and eliminate a two-year waiting period for
Medicare benefits for ALS patients. Because most ALS patients die within two
or three years of diagnosis, many never live long enough to receive benefits.
Born May 8, 1963, in Wilkes-Barre, he was a son of Edward Forgash, of
Larksville, and Dolores Krascavage Swainbank, of Wilkes-Barre. He was a member
of St. John the Baptist Church, Exeter. He attended Wyoming Area High School
and West Side Vocational Technical School. He worked at Varsity Sodding,
Swoyersville, for 15 years before his illness. Surviving, in addition to his
wife and parents, are his sons, Phillip, Jr., Joshua and Hunter, at home;
brother, Marlon, Long Pond; sisters, Beverly Davis, Wilkes-Barre; Denise
Swainbank, Exeter; and Charise Holtz, Plains Township.
Funeral services will be at 9 a.m. Saturday from the Recupero Funeral Home,
West Pittston, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:30 a.m. in St. John the
Baptist Church. Interment will be in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Carverton. Friends
may call from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Exeter Lions Little
League, c/o Frank Micnicoski, 86 Birchwood Estates, Exeter; or to Exeter
Panthers Football Association, c/o Carl Zielinski, 192 Birchwood Estates; or
to the ALS Northeast Chapter, c/o Paula Rich, P.O. Box 84, Mountaintop.