[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 31 (Thursday, March 3, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S1216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING RAYMOND ``BUTCH'' SWANSON

 Mr. TESTER. Mr. President today I wish to pay tribute to 
Raymond ``Butch'' Swanson, of Anaconda, MT.
  Butch passed away last evening. People in Anaconda say that Butch had 
the biggest heart of anyone they had ever known. He always put others' 
needs ahead of his own. He was the first one to show up with chicken 
noodle soup if a neighbor was sick. He was the nephew who helped an 
ailing uncle. He was the man who walked to his mother's house to wind 
her antique clock each week until her death.
  He was an extraordinary teacher. He taught first grade and loved it. 
Every student was like his own son or daughter, and he always pushed 
them, letting them know that their dreams were possible. It was his 
life's work.
  That devotion to his students came through in his love for his 
family. He was a proud and loving father and grandfather, who engaged 
fully in the raising of his four children. He doted on his two 
grandchildren.
  Most important, he was a proud, loving, and great husband. His wife 
Kathy serves in the Montana House of Representatives. Butch was so 
proud of Kathy and her incredible work in the legislature for 
Montanans.
  He not only served his family and his community, he served the State 
and the country he loved so much in the Montana National Guard.
  Anaconda will miss Butch Swanson. To the generations of students he 
taught, to his family and to his community, Butch Swanson was a 
caretaker who always put other people first. He lived a quiet, humble 
life and is a lesson to us all on what it means to be a fine person, a 
fine Montanan, and a fine American. 

                          ____________________