South Amboy
Thomas W. “Bucky” Swan age 79 of South Amboy passed away Friday September 6, 2013 at Madison Center, Old Bridge. Born in Newark he has resided in South Amboy since 1987. Tom was the life of many parties and followed his motto – “life is not a dress rehearsal”. He taught himself to ski and wind surf in his 50’s and jumped out of a perfectly good airplane for his 70th birthday. Mr. Swan served his country in the Unites States Army from 1957 through 1959. Tom is a legend in the drum and bugle corps community, first as a solo soprano (trumpet) player with Saint Joseph’s Cadets, Newark, and then the NY Skyliners. He was a self employed music teacher of thousands of youngsters in corps in the NJ and NY metropolitan area from the 1950’s through the present and was a respected performer, instructor and arranger. Tom was elected to the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, the NJ Drum Corps Hall of Fame and the Buglers Hall of Fame. He was most recently arranger and instructor for the NY Skyliners Alumni Chorus and recently retired as the long time instructor and arranger for the NJ American Legion parade champions Melrose Blackhawks Drum & Bugle Corps.

He is predeceased by his parents Thomas & Eileen Trainor Swan. Surviving are his companion of 29 years Althea Mazar, his daughters Karen Adelfio, Audrey Durando and Maureen Swan-Layton, his sons Thomas, John and Kevin Swan, his sister Ann M. Mulligan and 12 grandchildren.

While we all mourn the passing of a legendary Drum Corps figure in Tom ”Bucky” Swan, his wish was that we celebrate his life. With that in mind we would like to share following information.

This is an open invitation to join us as we share a celebration of the life of Bucky Swan. All are welcome, but RSVP through the below link is strongly requested to help us plan appropriately. Please RSVP through this link: http://www.mellolisa.com/RSVP no later than October 25th.

The celebration will be held at the Avenel Knights of Columbus Hall 109 Morrisey Ave Avenel NJ 07001
9 November, 2013, from 2:00 PM until 7:00 PM Beer, wine and soda will be provided along with a cash bar for mixed drinks. Lite fare will be provided, as well. We invite anyone who would like to share their memories of Bucky to share it with us at the event. But, please, if you’d like to honor Tom please let us know ahead of time.
We would also like to gather as much memorabilia as we can about Tom – photos, uniforms of the corps he taught or marched with, recordings of those corps, anything that will help us remember how much Tom touched all of our lives. We will have supplies for marking the items(s) so the rightful owners get them back.

Photos and recordings are especially important since we would like to put together some slide shows to be shared at the party.

Point of contact is: Ron Lawrence, email: skyron@gmail.com, cell phone: 732-710-6675

We look forward to seeing Tom’s friends and sharing memories with those who care about him.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or a charity of your choice.