Woman's lifetime of giving continues

By Sam Scott

In death, as in life, Dorolou Pierson Swirsky did it her way. Swirsky, 89, died on March 9, leaving her entire estate to help fund programs for Sunnyvale Youth.

Assistant City Manager Amy Chan said she can't recall anyone else making the city the sole beneficiary in a will. The rarity of the gesture befits a woman whose friends said was accustomed to going her own way.

"She was really a remarkable woman, who, you almost had to know, to know," said Jenny Shain, assistant to the director of Parks and Recreations. "She lived life to the fullest, experienced everything, said everything."

Shain got to know Swirsky through Swirsky's interest in giving to the Parks and Recreation Department. Shain remembered her as a spunky woman, always smoking, who liked a good argument.

Shain said Swirsky used to show a picture of Benny, a deer she adopted while living in Mexico. The deer became a pet. The photo showed the animal sitting on the couch with Swirsky's dog and cat. When Swirsky returned to the U.S., Benny became a Hollywood deer, appearing in movies. Shain said another photo showed Benny with a Hollywood starlet, (perhaps Joan Collins, Shain guessed). Swirsky would say she was just out of shot, making sure the deer wasn't scared, Shain said.

Swirsky also traveled with the United Serviceman's Organization. Other photos showed her with actors, such as Mickey Rooney and Bob Hope.

In her younger days, Swirsky lived in bohemian San Francisco, hanging out with artists and gays, at a time when this was not acceptable to polite society. But, it wasn't only her adult life that inspired stories.

Jim Warwood, a longtime Sunnyvale resident, remembered Swirsky telling tales of her youth in the Southwest. She often told a story of her father fleeing in his car from Pancho Villa, the Mexican bandit, while Villa rode on a horse.

Warwood knew Swirsky through a passion she discovered in later life--lawn bowling. Warwood remembers Swirsky as a "serious" bowler, often out at Murphy Park. As her health declined in later years, Warwood kept her informed on the state of affairs at the Sunnyvale club. News of her death passed quickly through the lawn bowling community, he said.

Shain said Swirsky originally wanted to give her estate to youth lawn bowling, before deciding to make the fund more general.

"My quest in life is now to ensure that our youth will have positive and constructive activities influencing their future," she told Sunnyvale City Council on Aug. 17, 1993. "My gift is only part of a larger picture. It is to be a gentle reminder, year after year, that our youth is our future."

Numerous organizations recognized Swirsky for her generosity. Of the awards, perhaps the most prominent came in 1995, when the National Recreation and Park Association named her National Humanitarian of the Year.

At the time of Swirsky's bequest in 1993, the city estimated the estate's value at $500,000. The current value will take months to determine, Chan said.

The real value, however, may have been the example Swirsky set. Advanced Micro Devices, a Sunnyvale company that donated $1 million to build the Columbia Neighborhood Center, cited Swirsky as an inspiration.

Plans for the city's memorial service to honor Swirsky have not yet been finalized.

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