Melvin Morse Swig (July 31, 1917 – May 14, 1993)Full text of "Melvin M. Swig, President, Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, 1971-1972 : oral history transcript; with introductions by Donald H. Seiler and Robert E. Sinton ; interviews conducted by Eleanor K. Glaser in 1991
Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1991 was an American real estate developer and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. He was also the owner of the National Hockey League's

California Golden Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967–68 NHL season, 1967 to 1975–76 NHL season, 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oa ...

and Cleveland Barons.

Early life and education

Swig was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, a son of Benjamin Swig and grandson of politician and banker Simon Swig. He graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1939.

Career

Swig was a real estate developer and philanthropist in San Francisco and New York. He was heir to the Fairmont Hotel chain, and former chairman of the Swig, Weiler & Dinner Development Company, of San Francisco and Manhattan, a family-owned real estate company with holdings including the Fairmont Hotels. Swig served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and later moved to San Francisco in 1946. Swig was President of the Jewish Community Federation and the Jewish Community Endowment Fund in San Francisco. He established the Swig Judaic Studies Program at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

and he also served as chairman of the board. Swig owned the

after purchasing them in 1975. While he planned to move the team to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

with a new arena, failures to get an arena planned by local politicians meant the end of the Seals. He took the advice of minority owner George Gund III, who suggested that his hometown of Cleveland would be idea for hockey and thus the Seals moved to become the Cleveland Barons on July 14, 1976. Fortunes did not improve for Cleveland, as the first season saw a young team get brutalized on the ice and in the box office, with ownership asking players to take a salary deferment for months. Players later threatened to boycott games until they were paid, which saw Swig, the league and its players association provide a combined $1.3 million to pay the players. Swig was bought out by the Gund brothers in the offseason.

Personal life

Swig was married four times. In 1939, he married Phyllis Diamond with whom he had two children; Steven and Judy. They divorced in 1951. Swig then married Marcia Hove and had twin sons: Robert and Kent. They divorced in 1965. His third wife was Dolores Cochrane who had two daughters from a previous marriage. They were married for seventeen years until her death from lung cancer. His fourth wife was Charlotte Mailliard (née Smith). After his death, she married George Pratt Shultz, who served as the U.S. Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989. His children were all raised in the Jewish faith. His son Steven Swig, formally served as chairman of the board of the Swig Company in San Francisco, and is married to Mary Green, founder of Mary Green lingerie. His daughter Judy died of cancer in 1975 at the age of 26. His son Kent Swig, a real estate developer in New York, was married to and divorced from Elizabeth Macklowe, daughter of real estate developer Harry B. Macklowe. His son Robert Swig, a philanthropist in San Francisco, died in 2000 at the age of 39; Robert had three children with his wife Kim Baldwin Swig.JWeekly: "S.F. philanthropist Robert Swig of real estate family dies at 39" by ALEXANDRA J. WALL
August 25, 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swig, Melvin 1917 births 1993 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American businesspeople in real estate Brown University alumni Businesspeople from Boston California Golden Seals owners Cleveland Barons (NHL) University of San Francisco people 20th-century American businesspeople Jewish American sports executives and administrators 20th-century American philanthropists Swig family 20th-century American Jews Jews from Massachusetts