Lewis Carroll Swift
Help us celebrate Lewis! Please share your stories and photos, and invite others who remember Lewis.
Lewis Carroll Swift, a Lexington, KY native and career employee of pari-mutuel departments at thoroughbred horse and greyhound dog tracks, died Thursday, Oct. 8, at Kindred Hospital Louisville. He was 81. He had lived the past two decades in New Albany, IN. Early in his pari-mutuel career, Mr. Swift teamed with a few others to spin magic with pencils in tracks' calculating rooms rapidly determining horses' odds as bettors placed wagers and then rapidly determining payouts based on the race's finish. After the debut of computers, he worked the wagering line windows as a seller or cashier. For years he was a familiar face to regular bettors at Keeneland, Churchill Downs, Oaklawn Park Race Track, Hot Springs, AR, and Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, NY, to name a few. He spent time, too, as a mutuel department manager. In the 1970s, Mr. Swift worked briefly as a sports writer at The Lexington Herald-Leader, covering high school sports. He always was a devotee of the silver screen. Mr. Swift was born June 16, 1939, the youngest of six children of Virginia Board Swift and Morrison Vincent Swift. He was a graduate of Lexington Catholic High School and the University of Kentucky. He spent much of his youth on the playgrounds and playing fields of Woodland Park in central Lexington. He was preceded in death by sisters Elizabeth A. Swift and Ruth Swift Gioiosa and brothers John S. Swift, Morrison V. Swift Jr. and William C. Swift. He is survived by a sister-in-law, Ellen D. Swift, Crawfordsville, IN, a brother-in-law, Thomas E. Gioiosa, Greenville, SC, and dozens of nieces, nephews and cousins living across the nation. A graveside service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Calvary Cemetery, Lexington. Memorial contributions are suggested to the Epilepsy Foundation of America and the American Cancer Society. www.milwardfuneral.com