Walter M. "Buck" Swords, 89, of Brownsville, Texas, formerly of LaFayette, Ill., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died at 2:34 p.m., Sunday, July 15, 2007, at Rancho El Eden Hospice, Brownsville.
Mr. Swords was born July 18, 1917, in Wyoming, Ill., son of Jarve and Harriet (Cox) Swords. He attended Frakers Grove Grade School and graduated from LaFayette High School. He served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II. He had owned and operated his own trucking business for over 40 years in the LaFayette, Victoria and Galesburg area and for 17 years ran a trucking and construction business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
He was a past member of the Stark Lodge #501, Toulon Lodge, AF & AM of LaFayette, Peoria Scottish Rite Bodies and the Peoria Mohammed Temple. Mr. Swords had lived in Brownsville, Texas, during the winter since 1960.
WAITRESS RECEIVES $50,000 AND A CAR FROM CUSTOMER:
'I still can't believe it,' Luby's cafeteria worker says of bequest.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - For nearly seven years Melina Salazar did her best to put on a smile and tend to the every need of her most loyal and cantankerous customer.
She made sure his food was as hot as he wanted, even if it meant he burned his mouth. And she smiled through his demands and curses. The 89-year-old Walter "Buck" Swords obviously appreciated it, leaving the waitress $50,000 and a 2000 Buick when he died.
"I still can't believe it," the Luby's cafeteria employee told Harlingen television station KGBT-TV in an interview during which she described Swords as "kind of mean."
Swords, a World War II veteran, died in July. But Salazar learned just a few days before Christmas that he had left her the money and car.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Harold and Eugene Swords. Burial was held at the Galva Cemetery.
Mr. Swords was born July 18, 1917, in Wyoming, Ill., son of Jarve and Harriet (Cox) Swords. He attended Frakers Grove Grade School and graduated from LaFayette High School. He served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II. He had owned and operated his own trucking business for over 40 years in the LaFayette, Victoria and Galesburg area and for 17 years ran a trucking and construction business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
He was a past member of the Stark Lodge #501, Toulon Lodge, AF & AM of LaFayette, Peoria Scottish Rite Bodies and the Peoria Mohammed Temple. Mr. Swords had lived in Brownsville, Texas, during the winter since 1960.
WAITRESS RECEIVES $50,000 AND A CAR FROM CUSTOMER:
'I still can't believe it,' Luby's cafeteria worker says of bequest.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - For nearly seven years Melina Salazar did her best to put on a smile and tend to the every need of her most loyal and cantankerous customer.
She made sure his food was as hot as he wanted, even if it meant he burned his mouth. And she smiled through his demands and curses. The 89-year-old Walter "Buck" Swords obviously appreciated it, leaving the waitress $50,000 and a 2000 Buick when he died.
"I still can't believe it," the Luby's cafeteria employee told Harlingen television station KGBT-TV in an interview during which she described Swords as "kind of mean."
Swords, a World War II veteran, died in July. But Salazar learned just a few days before Christmas that he had left her the money and car.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Harold and Eugene Swords. Burial was held at the Galva Cemetery.
Walter M. "Buck" Swords, 89, of Brownsville, Texas, formerly of LaFayette, Ill., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died at 2:34 p.m., Sunday, July 15, 2007, at Rancho El Eden Hospice, Brownsville.
Mr. Swords was born July 18, 1917, in Wyoming, Ill., son of Jarve and Harriet (Cox) Swords. He attended Frakers Grove Grade School and graduated from LaFayette High School. He served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II. He had owned and operated his own trucking business for over 40 years in the LaFayette, Victoria and Galesburg area and for 17 years ran a trucking and construction business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
He was a past member of the Stark Lodge #501, Toulon Lodge, AF & AM of LaFayette, Peoria Scottish Rite Bodies and the Peoria Mohammed Temple. Mr. Swords had lived in Brownsville, Texas, during the winter since 1960.
WAITRESS RECEIVES $50,000 AND A CAR FROM CUSTOMER:
'I still can't believe it,' Luby's cafeteria worker says of bequest.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - For nearly seven years Melina Salazar did her best to put on a smile and tend to the every need of her most loyal and cantankerous customer.
She made sure his food was as hot as he wanted, even if it meant he burned his mouth. And she smiled through his demands and curses. The 89-year-old Walter "Buck" Swords obviously appreciated it, leaving the waitress $50,000 and a 2000 Buick when he died.
"I still can't believe it," the Luby's cafeteria employee told Harlingen television station KGBT-TV in an interview during which she described Swords as "kind of mean."
Swords, a World War II veteran, died in July. But Salazar learned just a few days before Christmas that he had left her the money and car.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Harold and Eugene Swords. Burial was held at the Galva Cemetery.
Mr. Swords was born July 18, 1917, in Wyoming, Ill., son of Jarve and Harriet (Cox) Swords. He attended Frakers Grove Grade School and graduated from LaFayette High School. He served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II. He had owned and operated his own trucking business for over 40 years in the LaFayette, Victoria and Galesburg area and for 17 years ran a trucking and construction business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
He was a past member of the Stark Lodge #501, Toulon Lodge, AF & AM of LaFayette, Peoria Scottish Rite Bodies and the Peoria Mohammed Temple. Mr. Swords had lived in Brownsville, Texas, during the winter since 1960.
WAITRESS RECEIVES $50,000 AND A CAR FROM CUSTOMER:
'I still can't believe it,' Luby's cafeteria worker says of bequest.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - For nearly seven years Melina Salazar did her best to put on a smile and tend to the every need of her most loyal and cantankerous customer.
She made sure his food was as hot as he wanted, even if it meant he burned his mouth. And she smiled through his demands and curses. The 89-year-old Walter "Buck" Swords obviously appreciated it, leaving the waitress $50,000 and a 2000 Buick when he died.
"I still can't believe it," the Luby's cafeteria employee told Harlingen television station KGBT-TV in an interview during which she described Swords as "kind of mean."
Swords, a World War II veteran, died in July. But Salazar learned just a few days before Christmas that he had left her the money and car.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Harold and Eugene Swords. Burial was held at the Galva Cemetery.
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