Jonathan Warne Swingle's Obituary
Jonathan Warne Swingle
February 26, 1954 – June 7, 2026
Jonathan passed away peacefully in his home in Millsboro, Delaware on Sunday, June 7th, 2026, due to complications from a recent surgery. He was born in Neptune, NJ, to the late Hazel E. (O’Hara) Swingle and Dr. Donald M. Swingle, the youngest of their three children. He spent an idyllic childhood in the New Jersey shore area and lived most of his life in New Jersey before moving to Millsboro, Delaware, for a peaceful retirement life with his wife and dogs.
A 1972 graduate of Neptune High School, Jon went on to earn an Associates of Occupational Sciences degree at the Culinary Institute of America in 1974. He served under the Federal Aviation Administration as an Air Traffic Controller for 28 years (Trenton-Mercer, Newark Liberty, and Northeast Philadelphia airports) and then worked another 10 years in customer service at Aviall-Boeing. Jonathan retired for good in 2021 to enjoy a more relaxed life and moved to lower, slower Delaware.
Jonathan is a survivor (of many things), and his wife, Diane, used to accuse him of being a cat with nine lives…or a unicorn. Either was fine, and both were true. As a teenager, he survived being randomly shot at while playing with his friend Bill in the woods. In August 2018, he and Bill were fishing off the coast of New Jersey, and their boat was overturned by a whale which dumped them both into the ocean without their life preservers. And he has survived four different types of cancer, three being extremely rare, and two of those metastasizing a second time. In all, Jon fought six battles with cancer: Mucosal Melanoma 2x’s, Merkle Cell Carcinoma 2x’s, Basal Cell 1x, and Spindle Cell Carcinoma 1x. He is a warrior. He used to say he was just lucky.
During periods of good health, Jon enjoyed his hobbies of bowling (two perfect 300 games to his credit!), fishing with his best buddy Bill, and gardening.
His story would not be complete without talking about his contributions to the Mucosal Melanoma community. January 9, 2009, was a pivotal moment in Jonathan’s life, he was diagnosed with Mucosal Melanoma, a rare aggressive cancer with dismal prognosis. Thus began his quest to conquer it. In 2015, he became a pioneer member of the Facebook group, Mucosal Melanoma Warriors. As an active, valued member he helped newly diagnosed members navigate their journey. In 2018, he found some like-minded members within this group who wanted to do more. They approached the Melanoma Research Alliance to inquire about starting a registry to gather patients’ data to help researchers find a cure. Hence, the RARE Registry was founded. The RARE Registry has since expanded its role, and now has initiated a Biorepository for tumor tissues as well. Jon served as a patient advocate on the Oversight Committee for this. He has also served as a patient reviewer for research grants related to Mucosal Melanoma. Even from his hospice bed, he had tissue samples drawn for the Biorepository to ensure they had biological data from one of the longest surviving Melanoma patients.
Jonathan is survived by his wife, Diane Benson; his children, Jason Swingle (Aleia), Joseph Benson (Megan); and Shannon Balsai (Thomas); his sister, Donna Beth Luce (Dennis); his brother, Donald Swingle, Jr. (Fran Metzger); his precious grandchildren, Roan, Abigail, and Morgan; and his beloved pups, Griffin, Hickory, and Fenwick.
A celebration of life will be held on Wednesday, July 22nd at 12:00 Noon at The Rehoboth Beach Country Club in Rehoboth, Delaware. Please RSVP to a member of the Benson or Swingle family by July 4th if you are able to join us for the event.
Jonathan’s family requests that, in lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to honor his memory please consider a donation to the Melanoma Research Alliance at: Donate to MRA Unspecified/General
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