A tribute to the late David Swanson, a well-respected Warren lawyer who died in December, will be held in the main courtroom of the Warren County Courthouse on Friday. The memorial court, which is open to the public, will begin at 3 p.m.

Swanson was a member of the Pennsylvania Bar for 57 years, according to Attorney Tim Bevevino, a partner in Swanson’s firm, Swanson, Bevevino and Gilford. “He was very accomplished … a graduate of Yale,” Bevevino said. “He was well liked.”

“He was a great man and a great lawyer who did a great job every day,” added William Bevevino, one of the founding members of the law firm.

Swanson’s staff holds his memory in equal esteem.

Lori McCool, a secretary with the firm for more 25 years, said Swanson “had a very thoughtful, happy, whimsical yet serious spirit. He was always in deep thought. I have many fond memories of him reciting poetry or scripture and singing a few lines from a hymn while walking through the office after a run at lunch with his long-time friend,” Brent Jones.

Swanson liked to share stories, too. McCool said he often started sentences with “Did I ever tell you …”

McCool also talked about Swanson’s generous spirit.

“He was always good for daily donuts and apples,” she said. “For many years he would buy oranges and grapefruit for the secretaries at Christmas, even after he retired!”

McCool also noted Swanson’s lifetime devotion to his wife, Nancy.

“In many office settings you get the jabbing or complaining about respective spouses,” McCool shared, “but not David Swanson. Nancy was the love of his life and we all knew it.”

Swanson’s lunchtime runs were generally with his friend, Brent Jones.

“Dave and I ran together, most of the time with our other running buddy, Mike Bross, who unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago,” Jones shared.

Their relationship started one winter when Jones was running to Sheffield and noticed footprints in the snow.

“I followed them all the way,” Jones said. “The next day I asked around who would have run that far and was told it probably was Dave Swanson. Within a week we started our running relationship.”

That relationship lasted 25 years, and Jones counts himself lucky to have seen those footprints that winter day. He considered Swanson a valuable mentor.

“Dave was very knowledgeable in so many areas, one of them being the Civil War,” Jones said. “At one point he spent two to three weeks of running explaining the battle of Gettysburg to me. He was an awesome role model for me and I miss him very much.”

Swanson, who died Dec. 11, 2014, was a beloved husband and father, and devoted son, brother, cousin and friend, according to his obituary. He was 85.

Swanson was a “proud graduate of the last class at Ludlow High School, and its valedictorian, although he liked to say that he still failed to graduate in the top 10 percent of the class; that’s because it had just eight students. After serving two years in the Army, he went to Pennsylvania State University, where he earned a degree in physics in 1953,” according to his obituary.

Swanson then graduated from Yale Law School, returned to Warren County and practiced law for nearly 50 years.

He had six children, David (Nels) of London, England; Eric of Devon, Pa.; Kirsten Turfitt of Warren; Karl of Missoula, Montana; Karen (Tia) of South Orange, N.J.; and Elisa Gordon of Richmond, Va. He also had 17 grandchildren.

Swanson was a member of the Warren County School Board for many years and served as its president. He was a long-time member and lay leader at Barnes United Methodist Church.

“He took his father to visit Sweden and dozens of long lost cousins there, in 1978, the first of many trips. Later, he spent months planning reunions between relatives on both sides of the Atlantic,” according to his obituary.

“He started downhill skiing in his late 50s, and for many winters planned obsessively for trips to ski slopes near and far,” it continued. “He also was an ardent runner, and completed several marathons. He and Nancy traveled widely, often in the company of children, cousins or school friends, walking and hiking whenever the opportunity arose; they camped in the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota, made it to the base of the Grand Canyon and back up again – twice; hiked north of the Arctic Circle in Lapland; and rode elephants in Nepal. Whenever possible in their travels, they took one or two, and once, four, grandchildren with them.”

Friday’s service will be attended by three of the four county judges, The Honorable Maureen A. Skerda, President Judge; The Honorable Paul H. Millin, Senior Judge; and The Honorable Gregory Hammond. Several members of the Bar also are expected.

According to Tim Bevevino, the memorial court will include speakers and a video of Swanson introducing Yale classmate Sen. Arlen Specter, who died in 2012. The public is encouraged to attend.