Swarthout makes clocks, guitars in retirement

Bradley Swarthout lived in Douglas, Minn., and is the oldest of eight children in his family. He went to the country school in Douglas for six grades, attended Kellogg Junior High, and then John Marshall High School.

Brad said he didn’t take part in activities in school as his dad told him he would have to find his own way home after school or walk. He was involved with 4-H so he would exhibit some projects at the Olmsted county fair. Brad started working at the Oronoco grocery store stocking shelves, and he would ride his motorcycle there when he was 14 years old. On Friday nights, Brad and some friends would walk to Pine Island, and walk home again that evening.

Kay (Runge) Swarthout lived on a farm near Pine Island with two siblings, and attended Pine Island Schools. She wasn’t involved with school activities as there was enough work to be done at their farm.

Brad and Kay met when they were 16 years old. She was riding on a cycle with a friend and Brad was on his, and they started talking while traveling down the road.

After Brad finished high school, he started working as a mechanic in Rochester for a few months, but received his draft notice and was sent to Ft. Campbell, Ky., and his AIT at Ft. Polk, La. He then went to Vietnam, and was stationed with the AMERICAL Division in the 11th Infantry Brigade in 1968-69 in the DucTho and Chu Lai area. Brad came in on choppers into combat battle zone areas 27 times, and his unit would spend most of their time out in the bush.

They would dig in at night, cover up with a poncho, and take two-hour watch shifts while his buddy would sleep. Kay said when Brad would send her letters, it might take several weeks to arrive from when they were written and they would have the smell of being in the swamp areas.

Brad would take turns doing the dangerous job of walking point, being the eyes and ears, leading his patrol unit. When the machine gunner was getting closer to going back home, he told Brad that he should take over, and it would be a better job as then he wouldn’t have to walk point on patrol. It didn’t turn out that way as Brad was hit in his eye by shrapnel from an enemy mortar round. He was sent to a military hospital in Vietnam for three weeks, then to a hospital in Japan for three weeks, and finally to Ft. Fitzsimons Medical Center in Colorado for three months. While Brad was finishing up his time in the Army, he was assigned to work at the Fort Carson, Colo. post office. He is legally blind in one eye from his injury, and also was affected by exposure to Agent Orange as many Vietnam vets have been.

Brad and Kay were married in 1969 and when he had completed his military obligation in Colorado they came back to Minnesota. Brad started working at Clements Chevrolet as a truck mechanic for the next three years. He attended the Vo-Tech school in Rochester on the GI Bill, but when he finished there were no jobs available. He checked if there were any jobs at the Mayo Clinic, and he was hired as a janitor for the next year.

Mayo was starting a paint crew staff, and he moved into that job and worked at that position for the next 25 years. He was the lead painter on the five-person night crew, and they would work at Methodist, St. Mary’s Hospital, Assisi Heights, and the other Mayo Buildings. They would refinish furniture and thousands of chairs throughout the buildings. Painting the floor safety lines in the CT scan rooms was one of the jobs they would do.

He mentioned they brought Sister Generose, a longtime administrator of Mayo Clinic St. Mary’s Hospital, in an open carriage for an event. Brad was standing outside, and the sister was not wearing a coat. He told her to put his coat on and she said then you will be cold, but he told her he would be OK. A couple of days later someone delivered his jacket back to him again as Sister Generose said she needed to return it to him, and she had blessed the jacket before it was returned.

Brad and Kay lived in Douglas, Kasson, Pine Island, Byron, and now have been in Kasson for the past 15 years. Kay worked at Waters Instruments in Rochester for 31 years where they made electric fencers. It worked out quite well with their shift hours so they did not need much in the way of child care.

Their son, Joe, lives in Kasson and works at the Mayo Clinic as a custodian, and their daughter Tresa lives in Spring Valley. They both went to school in Pine Island as that is where the family lived during their school years. Brad and Kay have two grandchildren.

Even when Brad was doing his regular Mayo work schedule, he would also do house repair work such as painting and shingling, and his son would help with the projects. When Brad was able to retire from the Clinic, Kay also retired at the same time.

They have enjoyed traveling around the Central and Western part of the U.S. Going to Yellowstone and Colorado has been a highlight, and they have also been down to the Gulf Shore area. Kay said there are so many places to see in our country, and Brad has no interest in traveling to other countries.