Taking Later Flight Spelled Death for a Man Who Had It All

At the age of 45, Allen F. Swanson, Chevron USA’s public relations manager for Orange County, had everything to live for.

He had a job he loved. He had a woman he loved. And on Jan. 1, he was to take over as board chairman for the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, which in 1988 will help celebrate the county’s centennial.

Swanson’s fatal misfortune, though, was attending a Christmas office luncheon Monday in downtown Los Angeles. Attending that luncheon meant having to take a later flight to San Francisco for a weeklong conference of Chevron public affairs executives.

Swanson, along with three other Chevron USA executives who attended the luncheon, boarded PSA Flight 1771 at Los Angeles International Airport. They were killed, along with 39 other passengers and crew, when the commuter jet crashed near Paso Robles on the central California coast.

Friends, relatives and business acquaintances of the popular Swanson mourned his loss in eulogy and prayer. The Orange County Board of Supervisors adjourned its meeting Tuesday in memory of Swanson, who was a personal friend of Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez.

“He was very, very much a community leader,” Vasquez said.

“Oh, God, there isn’t anybody who didn’t like him,” said Kay Bryant, Swanson’s roommate and companion, as she dabbed at tears in the couple’s Long Beach condominium, where Christmas stockings hung on a wall.

The office luncheon was scheduled by Owen Murphy, Chevron USA regional vice president of public affairs in Los Angeles. James Sylla, Chevron USA president from San Francisco, and Jocelyn Kempe, Chevron public affairs manager in Santa Barbara, had also flown in for the occasion, said Swanson’s secretary, Sara Hargrave. Murphy, Sylla and Kempe died with Swanson in the crash.

Hargrave said she last spoke with Swanson when he called from the airport as his flight was about to board.

“He just called in to check to see how things were going, and to see if there were any messages,” Hargrave said. “He said he would call me again when he got into San Francisco.”

Bryant said she last spoke to Swanson Monday morning as she rushed to a doctor’s appointment and he packed his bags for the conference.

“He just said he’d talk to me later,” said Bryant, as a family friend fielded telephone calls. “I tried to call him (at home) after I had been to the doctor, but I just got his voice on the answering machine.”

Swanson’s sudden and violent death was in sharp contrast with what friends remembered of his gentle, peace-loving life. In his earlier years as a chemical engineer at a refinery, he was called upon to help mediate labor disputes, Bryant said.

The mere presence of Swanson--standing 6 feet, 5 inches and weighing 220 pounds--was enough to command respect of striking workers. But although he was nicknamed “Big Al” during that period, he never raised his voice or lifted a hand in anger, Bryant recalled.

Reared on a farm in the Pennsylvania church belt, Swanson was recruited from Penn State University 24 years ago as a chemical engineer for what was then the Standard Oil Co. He worked the next 16 years in the company’s El Segundo refinery, which became Chevron. His mediation skills elevated him into public relations.

In 1985, Swanson was named manager of public relations for a sprawling Chevron territory that covers Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties, as well as the entire state of Arizona. Chevron is represented in Orange County by a marketing and research facility in La Habra.

“He loved his job. He told me he couldn’t believe he got paid for what he did,” Bryant said.

When not working, Swanson was heavily involved in civic affairs, including board membership on “We Tip,” a national crime-fighting organization.

As newly elected chairman of the county Chamber of Commerce, Swanson’s led the group’s involvement in the county centennial.

“He was very enthusiastic about taking over and looked forward, as we did, to a tremendous year under his leadership,” chamber president Lucien Truhill said.

Robert C. Payton, outgoing board chairman, echoed Truhill’s sentiments:

“Mr. Swanson truly exemplifies the type of corporate leadership which the Orange County Chamber has been so fortunate to have in the past,” he said in a statement.

“His passing does a great disservice to the business community of Orange County. He was a warm and compassionate man, a sincere friend and will be missed by all of us.”

Swanson joined the chamber’s 33-member board of directors five years ago. Truhill said the board would convene in emergency session next week to pick a replacement.

Memorial arrangements for Swanson are pending. Besides his parents, Fred and Virginia, of Harveys Lake, Pa., he is survived by a daughter, Jennifer, 17, and former wife, Elnore Swanson, both of Rancho Palos Verdes.

A fired airline employee and his former boss were aboard Flight 1771. (Part I, Page 1.)