Billy "Sam" S. Swinnea

Billy “Sam” Swinnea, age 74, passed away Monday, June 9, 2025, at his home. Memorial services will be 11:00 am, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Kearney with Reverend Charles Peek officiating. Visitation will be from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, Thursday, June 12, 2025, at Horner Lieske McBride and Kuhl Funeral Home in Kearney. In lieu of flowers memorials are suggested to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Music Ministry or St. Luke’s Old Kitchen Restoration. Please visit www.hlmkfuneral.com to leave a message or condolence. Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral and Cremation Service is in charge of arrangements. Billy (Sam) Swinnea was born in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1951. He was the third of five children. His parents, Billy Ross Swinnea and Gertrude (Rigler) Swinnea, following a job opportunity, moved the family to Ft. Worth, Texas and later to Grand Prairie, Texas, where Sam met Stephanie (Bethard) Swinnea, whom he married in 1973. Sam worked his way through high school and The University of Texas in Arlington running a Heidelberg printing press. From UTA he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. Career highlights include his employment as a supervisor and trainer for The Drawing Board, a Dallas printing firm, a craftsman/technician for Gillespie Die-cutting, and a salesman/technician for H & H Hydraulics Co. Most of his career he was a pipeline operations controller with Mobile Pipeline and Sunoco. The love of Sam's life has always been Stephanie, a love that started at age 16. His love of automobiles was next, but not even a close second. Then came the children, four of them, Patrick, Kathleen, Erik and Kyle, and cars went on the back burner. When Stephanie approached him about her sense of call to ordained ministry, his immediate response was, "Go for it. If that's what you want to do, I will support you all the way." And he did support her. Every two weeks for three years he made the seven-hour pilgrimage to the seminary to catch up with her, to grow together. When the children were grown and Sam became unable to work, his love of cars gave him purpose. He would stroll through the wrecking yards for any big or tiny treasures he might find, then bring them home to sell on Ebay to special interest auto enthusiasts, desperate to find parts for their projects. He provided not only the parts but answered technical questions about installation and chatted for hours about all things auto. He also wrote in his spare time, finishing two books and still working through the third in the series, expecting to publish them soon with Amazon Kindle. Billy Samuel Swinnea is survived by his wife, Stephanie, four children and their spouses, Patrick and Sabrina Swinnea, Kathleen (Swinnea) and Ben Livsey, Erik Swinnea and Kyle Swinnea, and five grandchildren, Miles and Madeline Swinnea and Stephanie, Vincent and Benjamin Livsey, and by his siblings Roland Gorman, Margaret Masters, Cindy Percival and Tom Swinnea.

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Billy "Sam" S. Swinnea

February 25, 1951 - June 9, 2025