Patrick Michael Swonger “The Eureka Kid”

Born to Howard and Eileen Swonger in Springfield, Ohio, Patrick Michael Swonger arrived like an early Christmas present in December 1954 and graced the world with a lifetime fueled by music and adventure.

There were seven Swonger siblings in the family – six boys and one girl. Pat was the second eldest of the bunch. When he was still a tyke, the family moved to Columbus, Ohio where he attended St. Philip the Apostle School and enjoyed a classic all-American childhood, riding bikes around the ‘burbs and exploring nearby creeks and woods.

Pat and his big brother Lon were inseparable. They had paper routes together and often caught the city bus into downtown Columbus to watch a movie and wander the wondrous halls of the Museum of Science and Industry.

In 1967, when Pat was in 7th grade, the family moved to central Florida – first Kissimmee, then Dade City – where Pat and Lon found work as shoeshine boys at rival barber shops. Here, Pat listened in on all the local gossip, and honed his love of chess and his gift for gab.

Part Lithuanian, part German, part English, and all Irish, Pat’s family joked that he must have kissed the Blarney Stone; he had a mellifluous voice, a gregarious personality, and a knack for bringing people together and putting them at ease.

Pat’s journey through life was infused with music. He grew up listening to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and whatever else was playing on the radio. Pretty soon, he was making music of his own – singing, writing songs, playing the guitar.

He graduated from Pasco High School in Dade City in May 1973 and enlisted that fall with the U.S. Air Force. Stationed at Carswell Air Force Base near Dallas, Texas, he served in the Aerospace Audio Visual Service for next four years, filming promotional and instructional material for the USAF.

It was a dream job, but in 1977 he opted to return to civilian life, enrolling in the University of Florida’s School of Broadcasting. As fate would have it, he met some folks there who invited him to join them on a trip to Colorado one summer, where they were building a cabin in Eureka Gulch near Silverton.

Pat rode in the back of a pickup truck all the way from Florida to Colorado. He fell in love at first sight with the beautiful San Juan Mountains, and stayed on long after the cabin was built, working at the Sunnyside Mine and Mayflower Mill where they called him the Eureka Kid. He played in a couple of bands around town, and eventually saved up enough money to open a recording studio called the Eureka Music Mill.

Eventually, Pat returned to Florida to finish up his degree. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1984, and worked for Modern Talking Picture Service in St. Petersburg for the next ten years, creating corporate public relations and educational films and PSAs distributed to schools, TV and radio stations around the U.S., and winning a coveted CINE Golden Eagle Award for his work.

In the 1990s, Pat found his way back to Silverton again. He met his future wife Amy in the summer of 1996 when they were cast opposite each other as romantic leads in A Theatre Group’s production of Anything Goes. A year later, they married in a meadow in Arrastra Basin.

Pat and Amy lived in Silverton for the next fifteen years where they raised three boys – Malachy, Aiden and Nolan – and wove themselves into the colorful fabric of the community.

Together, they ran Vidion, a local cable television company, and started a hot sauce company called Boiler Blast. A technical whiz, Pat became Silverton’s go-to computer guy. He served six years on the Silverton Board of Trustees and was an activist for Operation LinkUp, which fought to bring broadband internet to Silverton. He volunteered for the Silverton Ambulance Association, Silverton Search and Rescue, and the Silverton Avalanche School, attended St. Patrick Catholic Church with his family, continued to do community theater with Amy, served as commander at the American Legion Post 14 where he hosted legendary jam nights, and deejayed at Silverton’s radio station, KSJC.

Pat was always looking at the stars. He and Amy and some buddies started the Astronomical Society of Silverton (ASS for short). They never missed an opportunity to get the telescopes out, cracking jokes about looking for Uranus.

Pat was also a fantastic sailor. He owned a sailboat when he lived in St. Pete, and participated in racing regattas.

Whatever Pat was up to – and he was always up to a lot – he was quick-witted and curious, adventurous and intelligent. He was a kind and patient dad who took the time to be there for his sons.

When the family moved to Grand Junction in 2014, Pat plunged enthusiastically into the regional music scene there. Adopting the stage name Patrick Storm, he played gigs, open mics, and farmer’s markets.

In 2021, pandemic-weary and semi-retired, Pat got bit by the sailing bug again. He bought a little sailboat called the Celtic Wind, with an idea to chronicle his journey on the Great Loop, a continuous waterway that allows boaters to explore Eastern North America via its rivers, canals, and lakes.

Pat sailed out of New York Harbor in late August 2021. “There’s excitement in the air tonight in NYC with the boat going into the water tomorrow,” he wrote on Facebook on the eve of his departure. “With tides and winds to account for in the first miles across the harbor of this incredible city, the start of this long and beautiful journey is near. Fire in the hole!”

Pat made his way up the Erie Canal as far as Buffalo, N.Y. before putting the Celtic Wind in dry dock to rejoin his family in Colorado for the winter. He planned to resume his journey in the spring, but never got the chance. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack in his home in Fruita, Colo. on February 27, 2022 – the wind at his back, the last great adventure beckoning. He had just turned 67.

Pat is survived by his wife and three sons, six siblings and their respective families, all of whom he adored. He was preceded in death by his parents. Community members are invited to join Pat’s family at a funeral mass at St. Patrick Catholic Church at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 19, followed by graveside internment at Hillside Cemetery, and food, music, and libations at High Noon Hamburgers (1205 Empire Street).