WAPPAPELLO - Otis E. Swinger, 86, formerly of Dexter, died Feb. 13, 2013, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.
Born April 27, 1926, near Dexter, son of the late Hershal and Gladys Snider Swinger, he had lived in Dexter most of his life until moving to Wappapello eight years ago. A self-employed auto mechanic, he was a member of the Church of Christ in Essex. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps under Gen. George S. Patton during World War II throughout Europe.
On Sept. 20, 1947, he married Bonnie Jean Curd, who preceded him in death on May 11, 1977. On Dec. 1, 1979, in Marble Hill, he married Mary Alice Reaves Johnson, who survives of Wappapello.
Other survivors include: four sons, Darrell Swinger and Paul Swinger of Dexter, David Johnson of Bloomfield and Ron Johnson of Poplar Bluff; four daughters, Betty Black of Bloomfield, Debra Ward of Poplar Bluff, Dana Johnson of Cordova, Tenn., and Melissa Moore of Holcomb; three brothers, Harry Swinger of Dexter, Chet Swinger of Wabash, Ind., and Marlin Swinger of Morehouse; 15 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by one daughter, Phyllis Elaine Ward; three brothers, Junior Swinger, Lester Swinger and Charles Swinger; and one sister, Fern Gaines.
Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until service time at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter. Herman Morse of Dexter will officiate.
Burial with full military honors will be in the Missouri Veteran's Cemetery in Bloomfield.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.watkinsfuneralhome.com.