Park Hill Resident Mama Swaizey Lives to 106

Born July 14, 1905 in Shepherd, Texas, Etha Lee “Mama Swaizey” Johnson passed away March 31 at Park Hill Assisted Living Residence. Etha lived a long and productive life. She was raised by her father, a teacher, and soon became her father’s teaching assistant before going to high school, then to college in Conroe, Texas. She married Horace Wren and had five children: Cora, James, Larry, Morris and Charles. She had 13 grandchildren, 17 great-grands and 30 plus great-greats, but stopped trying to count them long ago. “Just like a tree, these branches spring up,” she’d say about her family. She moved to Denver from California at the age of 87. During her 100-plus years, she witnessed quite a number of world changes. One of the most historic events that that she would speak about is the sinking of the Titanic. “I was nine years old,” she said. “Folks had said, ‘Even God can’t sink this ship.’ I guess He proved them wrong.” Mama Swaizey was a vegetarian and an active member of the Park Hill Seventh-Day Adventist Church. She attributed her long life to a healthy lifestyle, faith and trust in God. “The human body is like a car and cars come with a manual,” she said. “If you follow the manual, that car’s going to last for a long time. We have a manual called the Bible and I’ve followed it my whole life.”