David Swindle Obituary

David Harold Swindle passed away September 14, 2025 in Wildwood FL at the age of 74. He was born in St Joseph Hospital, downtown Tampa, FL, graduated from Brandon High School in 1969, and graduated from Tampa Tech with a two year degree in Electronics and a degree in Computer Design.

David was hired by Texas Instruments and moved to Dallas Texas in 1975. He was assigned to military contracts with high security, preventing him from discussing much of his work. His work took him to Scotland, Wales, Germany and Italy where he averaged six months at each posting. Among the projects he could discuss, were the Patriot Missile guidance systems and the early development of what would be known as the Global Positioning System (GPS). He was so proud when the team reduced the unit down to an 80 pound backpack, field tested it and it worked! Texas Instruments presented him with the Prestigious Malcolm Baldwin Award for customer service. In the late 1990's the military division was sold to Raytheon which included David. In 2000 David accepted an IT position with the State of Nevada in Carson City. His main focus was upgrading state agencies computer systems, making software secure, compliant and implementing modern technologies. He retired from the state in 2013.

David was survived by his loving wife Sandra Kay, Daughter Heather Conyers, Sons Zachery and David R. Swindle and David's Sister, Cheryl Swindle. David was predeceased by his parents Harold and Ruth, his brother Richard (Ricky) and David's only grandson Steven Fisher. "Papa D" was a loving grandfather to Halla, Ziva, Kayla and Hope.

David's lifelong love of science fiction, classic rock, outer space, and many memories night fishing off Gandy Bridge with his brother and cousins. His childhood was filled with love, laughter, home science experiments that sometime exploded, silly mischief, climbing and falling out of trees.

In the years before retirement he experimented with and built solar panels from scratch for their camper. It took the couple off grid to extreme areas to hunt for gems, pan for gold, a desert hot spring to soak in or just for him to enjoy the quiet with a cigarette in hand. Rarely was there a dull moment in their 54 years of marriage.