ST SEBASTIAN’S

TRIBUTE TO
TOM SWAN ’60
omas Swan ’60
1942-2011
‘Classic Leader’ Shared His Gis.
By Bryan Marquard, Boston Globe
“Tomhadsortof
anexquisitesensitivitytothepromisesoflifeandjust
sawsoclearlyhow
goodthingscould
andshouldbe...
Tomwasaclassic
leaderwhocould
geteveryonetodo
whatoughttobe
doneandhave
themthinkitwas
theiridea.”
In a board room, on a golf course, or gathering
with friends, Tom Swan guided those around
him to sound decisions, all the while reminding
them to savor the satisfactions each day brought.
“Tom had sort of an exquisite sensitivity to the
promises of life and just saw so clearly how good
things could and should be,’’ said Bill Burke,
headmaster of St. Sebastian’s, a private Catholic
school in Needham that Mr. Swan attended as a boy
and on whose board he was a founding member. “He
was a very intelligent, very thoughtful, very
compassionate, very dignified, and classy man who
could size up a situation in a nanosecond. Tom was a
classic leader who could get everyone to do what
ought to be done and have them think it was their
idea.’’
Even in illness, Mr. Swan could regale a seemingly
endless stream of friends with a self-deprecating tale
drawn from decades in the business community, a
lifetime on the links, or the world of horse racing he
began studying as a child.
Mr. Swan, chairman of the family-owned Swan
Group that has business holdings around the world,
died last Saturday in Good Samaritan Medical Center
in West Palm Beach, Fla., of complications from
treatment for cancer that first afflicted him in his late
20s. He was 68 and kept homes in Palm Beach,
Boston, and Osterville.
“I called him a gentle gentleman,’’ said Terrence
Murray, former chairman and chief executive of Fleet
Boston Financial Group and a longtime friend. “He
was a real gentleman and was always there anytime I
needed anything. And he had a corps of 25, 30
friends he took care of. at’s no exaggeration.’’
One-on-one or in a group, Mr. Swan’s favorite
avenue to friendship was conversation, something at
which he excelled.
“He was equally gied at making small talk as he
was leading intellectual discussions, and we all know
Tom loved a spirited debate,’’ his brother Joe, who also
lives in Boston, Osterville, and Palm Beach, said
during a Mass Wednesday in West Palm Beach to
celebrate Mr. Swan’s life. “For Tom, becoming a gied
conversationalist had one purpose, and it was to
connect with those friends that empowered him
throughout his life.’’
at talent served him in business and on boards,
including those of institutions such as McLean
Hospital in Belmont, whose board he joined in 2005.
“What he brought was wisdom that was based on
experience, his own character, and his keen intellect,’’
said david Barlow, who chairs McLean’s board. “He
was thoughtful, and he was rigorous, and he was a fair
man. It was a pleasure to work with him as a
colleague. He was collegial and willing to challenge,
which is a nice combination.’’
omas Joseph Swan Jr. was born in Newton and
spent much of his childhood in Wellesley, and he
returned to that town to live for many years as an
adult.
4 | ST. SEBASTIAN’S MAGAZINE Volume VI, Issue II