Bobbie Lee (Jones) Swaim

Bobbie Lee Swaim (Jones), 70, went to be with her Lord on August 9th, 2022.

Bobbie was born on November 21st, 1951 to Bob and Dorothy Jones in Albuquerque, NM. As part of a U.S. Air Force family, Bobbie, alongside her two sisters, had a wonderful and unique childhood living in Etain, France; Glendale, AZ; Ramstein, Germany; Fayetteville, NC; and Wiesbaden, Germany. She graduated from Gen. H.H. Arnold HS in Wiesbaden in 1969.

Bobbie followed her family to Big Spring, TX, where she met her husband, Don Swaim. After finishing at Howard County Junior College, Bobbie and Don attended Sam Houston State in Huntsville, TX, for a semester before getting married in Big Spring, TX, on December 18th, 1971. In December 2021 they celebrated 50 years of marriage. Bobbie and Don graduated from Angelo State University in San Angelo, TX, in 1973, and spent a summer in Glendale, AZ, before settling in Albuquerque, NM, where they have resided ever since.

Bobbie worked as the switch board operator for Rust Tractor until she was hired as the first teacher at Hope High School (now Hope Christian School) in 1976. Bobbie always knew she wanted to be a teacher and went above and beyond her calling to work in whatever role the school needed, from class and club sponsor to girls’ track coach. More importantly, she let the Lord’s love shine through her daily, positively impacting all those around her. While working at Hope, Bobbie earned her Master of Arts from UNM in 1981.

She left Hope in 1985 to start her next big adventure in raising her two children, Daniel and Katie. After years of volunteering and substitute teaching at Daniel and Katie’s schools, Bobbie returned to teaching at Cleveland Middle School in 2002 and taught 7th and 8th grade until retiring in 2010 to spend more time with her father.

Always caring and supportive, Bobbie continued to love and teach those around her, including the Ladies’ Bible Study at Faith Chapel Foursquare, a college student ministry for UNM students, and in her own personal relationships with friends and family. An avid reader and learner, Bobbie enjoyed spending time in her garden, watching birds in her backyard and around Albuquerque, and spending time with her family.

Bobbie is preceded in death by her parents Robert M. Jones and Dorothy Gallaher Jones; sister Cathy Sheyka; her father’s second wife Dorotha Jarnagin Jones; father-in-law Elvis Swaim; mother-in-law Nellie Gartman Watts; and nephew Jason Butler.

She is survived by husband Don Swaim and their children Daniel and Katie Swaim; sister Janet Lloyd; nieces Molly Donaldson (Jason), Abigail Swaim, and Hannah Swaim; nephews Christian Dodge (Lindsay), Jeremy Dodge (Carrie), Brian Butler (Scott), Ryan Swaim, and Ethan Swaim; great-nephews Blake Butler, Gage Dodge, Aidan Dodge, and Judah Dodge; great-niece Autumn Donaldson; sister-in-law Teresa Gibson (Glen); brother-in-law John Swaim (Christine); stepmother-in-law Betty Swaim; and many loving cousins, friends, and former students.