Obituary of Shirley Swan

Shirley Irene Swan, 74, of Clinton, passed away unexpectedly on March 4, 2026. 

Shirley was born on October 20, 1951, a daughter of Edward C. and Rhoda (Bailey) Swan.  She graduated from Clinton Central School and attended SUNY Cobleskill, where she majored in data processing. From 1970 to 1975, she was a keypunch operator for Utica Mutual.  Later, she retired from Preferred Mutual Insurance Co. on April 1, 2015, where she was a computer room operator.   

Shirley was caring, capable, and practical. She found comfort in the Buddhist religion and was a devoted and beloved family member and friend.  

Shirley’s hobbies included spending time kayaking and driving around the Adirondacks, logging hundreds of thousands of miles on her SHOOSH cars, reading many of her 1,000+ books, and spending time with a special community of fans of jazz musician Patricia Barber. She was passionate about promoting humanitarian and social justice causes, including attending several women's rights marches in Washington DC, providing and delivering food donations to the community in Utica, and caring for her family members and friends. 

She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, John and Kathleen Swan of Penfield; sister Susan Simon of Clinton; niece Aubrie Swan Sein and husband Andrew and their sons Evan and Connor; nephew David Swan and wife JoAnna and their daughters Lilah and Cara; and cousins Marion Swan and Eric Bailey. She was predeceased by her parents, her brother Paul Swan, brother-in-law Rich Simon, cousin Dorothy Swan, and other family members. 

In keeping with Shirley’s wishes, there will be no public services.