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ENMU Benefactor Passes Away

Addie Peed Swearingen

Addie Peed Swearingen, 104, passed away June 18, 2008, in Clovis. Mrs. Swearingen was born in Leon County, Texas, to Oscar and Mary Peed. The family traveled to the Elida community in 1909, and young Addie attended several rural schools before completing her high school education in Elida. While still in her teens, she moved to Roswell to attend beauty school. Mrs. Swearingen lived in Santa Fe for 28 years and was a beautician at the beauty shop in the famed La Fonda Hotel for 13 years. Mrs. Swearingen and her husband “Hub” became wealthy through purchasing land and mineral rights, mostly in Eddy County. When oil and gas deposits were discovered on the land, income from these rights provided money for Mrs. Swearingen to become one of the leading philanthropists in eastern New Mexico. She was a great friend to Eastern New Mexico University. She endowed many scholarships to support students in the fine arts, nursing, accounting and other academic programs. She also donated funds for the University’s pipe organ and loaned much of her extensive art collection to ENMU for display. To honor her generosity, she received the ENMU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 1983 and was recognized as the ENMU Foundation’s Philanthropist of the Year in 2002. In addition to her support of Eastern New Mexico University students, she contributed the first scholarship awarded to a female cadet at New Mexico Military Institute and donated considerable funds to support the music program at Lubbock Christian University.

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