06/09/2016

Mel Swann, Long-Time Educator and A&T Broadcaster, Dies at 80

Posted: Thursday, June 9, 2016 12:01 am
greensboro.com Published by the News & Record
By John Newsom
john.newsom@greensboro.com

GREENSBORO — Mel Swann, who worked for the local school district for nearly 40 years and called N.C. A&T football games on many Saturday afternoons, has died. Swann died Saturday at age 80.

A&T, which publicly announced Swann’s passing, did not give details about his death. Swann suffered from kidney ailments late in life, according to a 2011 News & Record story.

Swann worked for 37 years for the Greensboro City and Guilford County school districts until he retired in 1997. At A&T, he was the public address announcer for Aggie basketball games and did radio color commentary and halftime interviews for Aggie football games.

Spencer Gwynn, who worked in the radio booth alongside Swann for decades, said Swann was like a brother to him. “He was my family,” Gwynn said in a statement released by A&T. “I wanted to hire him to help me broadcast for one year and that one year turned into almost 40 years.

“Mel loved his wife (Jean). He loved his family and he loved broadcasting A&T football games.”
Born in Alabama, Swann lived all over the country and in Germany with his parents, a Methodist preacher and an elementary school teacher. The family came to Greensboro in the early 1950s while Swann was attending a military boarding school in Virginia.

Swann graduated from Hampton (Va.) Institute, now Hampton University, in 1958. He later got a master’s degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and did postgraduate work at UNC-Greensboro and A&T.
He taught for a year in Hertford County and spent a year in the U.S. Army. In 1960, the former Greensboro City Schools hired him.

Swann spent 11 years at the former J.C. Price Junior High School, where he taught earth science, coached the basketball and baseball teams and was the assistant football coach. The district later promoted him to assistant principal and, in 1969, principal.

In 1971, Swann left J.C. Price for the central office to help guide the district through integration. He held a series of administrative posts with the city district and, later, Guilford County Schools. Swann retired in 1997 as deputy superintendent, the district’s No. 2 position.

In a 1997 News & Record profile of Swann, Jerry Weast said he quickly became aware of Swann’s “deep strength and strong belief system” when he became superintendent of the newly merged county school system in 1993. “That’s why I made him my deputy.”

Swann was inducted into the N.C. A&T Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. He served as president of the Greensboro chapter of the Aggie Athletic Foundation and was a member of the Richard E. Moore Aggie Homecoming Golf Committee.

Swann’s funeral will be held at noon Friday at Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel at Bennett College. Visitation will start at 11 a.m.

Link to Article:  http://www.greensboro.com/news/schools/mel-swann-long-time-educator-and-a-t-broadcaster-dies/article_e6a6827a-77eb-5f03-88a0-8ed172f2b5f3.html