Al Sward, who ran Tabitha Health Care Services for 19 years, died Thursday at his home in Denton. He was 78.
the Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Saturday, July 11, 2009 12:00 am
Al Sward, who ran Tabitha Health Care Services for 19 years, died Thursday at his home in Denton. He was 78.
Sward retired from Tabitha in 2001, nearly two decades after he left Security Mutual Life Insurance Co. to take the position of president at Tabitha.
During his tenure, Tabitha's Nursing and Rehabilitation Center was renovated into a state-of-the-art subacute, hospice and long-term care facility, according to newspaper files. Work included the addition of the North Wing and development of the all-weather Kimmel Solarium, which serves the needs of people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
Sward also led Tabitha in converting the old Southeast Community College dormitory in Fairbury into retirement housing, and opening two restaurants there, as well. And, he opened regional corporate offices in York and Nebraska City.
The Tabitha Intergenerational Day Care Center, which opened in 2001 to serve the needs of children and older adults, is set to close this fall.
Sward's survivors include his wife, Roberta "Bobby" Sward, daughters Carol Most of Kansas City, Mo.; Joyce Malone of York and Lynne Ortlieb of Lincoln, and a son, Allen W. Sward, of Lincoln.
Funeral services were Saturday at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church.