Fred Swiderski

On Sunday, November 22, 2020, Fred Swiderski, loving husband and father died peacefully in his home at the age of 99.

Fred was born in 1921 in Branford, CT. He joined the Connecticut National Guard at eighteen. Fred served in the U.S. army and retired as a Major.He was sent to the Pacific right after Pearl Harbor. He spent time at Camp Gruber, OK training troops for the European conflict, went to Officers Candidate School and was sent to Europe. He made Captain after the war. He was stationed in Paris and there met his beautiful wife Gilda. He was in Korea during the war and served in plans and operations.

He was recruited by the State Department and became a Foreign Service Officer with AID. He and his family spent fifteen years overseas.Fred was in Vietnam for four years during the war, working in Saigon and Danang.

He settled in Napa, California and moved to Oklahoma to be closer to his daughter in 2003. Living six months in OK and six in Florida.

Fred was an outdoorsman. He loved to hunt and fish. He always had a nice vegetable garden and somehow managed to have the first tomato every year. He loved to watch politics and the stock market in later years, and read every piece of junk mail.

Fred was a kind man. He was a role model and adviser and influenced many lives. He is admired by many. He always said he was a lucky man, he loved his family and his country. Fred was especially grateful to his caregivers, Lori, Merry, Tambre and Robin and the wonderful staff of Hospice of the Cherokee.

Fred was preceded in death by his father, Charles, mother, Mariana and five brothers and sisters, Sally Ingalls, Walter Swiderski, Alice Wandelear, Helen Regan and Laura Cady.

He is survived by his wife of 73 years, Gilda, his daughter Christina Uribe and her husband Luis, grandsons Nathan and Trevor Zabik and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at Hart Funeral Home in Tahlequah, OK at 11:00 followed by Military Honors at Ft. Gibson National Cemetery Pavilion at 1 pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Marines of Tahlequah.