Lt. Dave Swavey of the Garland Police Department and his wife, Tricia, paramedic with the Plano Fire Department recently celebrated their retirement surrounded by friends and family at Garland’s Lakewood Brewing Company.
Aside from demanding careers, the couple has long been heavily involved in Guns and Hoses of North Texas as well as the Garland Police Boxing Gym Youth Program that was founded by Dave more than 20 years ago.
Guns and Hoses is a nonprofit that assists families of first responders who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The youth boxing program helps provide purpose, self-discipline, healthy competition and a sense of belonging to at-risk children.
The couple will remain involved in both organizations and Dave has been employed part-time by the city of Garland as coordinator at the gym.
The Swaveys have earned the respect of and admiration of so many through their work with the Guns and Hoses Foundation.
“They are the program,” Jeff Karnuth, supporter of the organization said. “They work 24/7 on Guns and Hoses and the boxing gym for the kids.”
GPD officer Kris Hostrup, who has worked with Dave for more than 20 years, credits him with the success of the boxing gym youth program.
“He started the boxing program whe
n he was in the gang unit and it has helped probably thousands of kids,” he said. “And Dave was the major force behind it.”
David Riggs, Garland Firefighters Association president, who has been with the GFD for 30 years, expressed appreciation for Dave’s hard work.
“What he did, setting up this foundation to help the families of fallen first responders, is great,” Riggs said. “And I think it’s wise that the city is keeping him on the payroll to run the gym because no one can do it better than Dave.”
Tricia, who was the first female firefighter/paramedic in Plano, will continue working on the Guns and Hoses program and will work with Dave at the boxing gym. They plan to do some traveling and will soon take a trip to Hawaii. She added that Dave hopes to visit all the major league baseball parks and they will soon begin work on that as well.
Tricia worked as a paramedic for 27 years.
“I liked my job and might have stayed another year or two but Guns and Hoses has gotten so big and it was too demanding for me to continue to work,” she said. “So we decided to retire together.”
Dave said that the decision to retire took a while because he loved the job.
“What I’ll miss most is being out in the community working with people and getting to know them,” he said. “You’ll never find another person who didn’t grow up in Garland that loves this city as much as I do.”
Natasha, Dave’s and Tricia’s daughter was surprised that her dad made the decision to retire.
“Growing up I thought that there wouldn’t be a person, ever, that loved their job as much as he did, so I never thought that he would actually retire,” she said.
Service to others runs in the Swavey family. Natasha was in the military and spent a year and a half in Iraq. Additionally, she has been a Dallas police officer for nine years and loves her job.
“Knowing that you’ve affected even one person in a positive manner is all that matters,” she said.