Obituaries : Iva Swisher; Former High School Registrar

Iva Jean Elizabeth Swisher, for 16 years the registrar of Santa Clara High School in Oxnard, died Sunday after a long illness. She was 74.

Swisher was born Oct. 3, 1922, in Sioux City, Iowa. She moved to California in the early 1950s to be closer to the family of her husband, Robert Swisher Sr.

The family soon settled in Oxnard, where Iva Swisher became active in St. Anthony’s Church. Daughter Patty Schulz of Ventura said the church formed one of the pillars of her mother’s life, with Swisher typing the church bulletin each week for about 20 years.

Santa Clara High School, where Swisher began work in 1971, constituted another pillar. Seven of Swisher’s nine children, including Schulz, attended the school.

“I never ditched, that’s for sure,” Schulz said. Even classmates often referred to Swisher as “Mother,” Schulz said.

Other survivors include daughters Jackie Ford of Simi Valley; Barbara Meyers of Las Vegas; Mary Ortel of Tracy, Calif.; Kathy Hernandez of Las Vegas; and Margaret Lopez of Oxnard; and sons Bill Swisher of Danville; Jim Swisher of Camarillo; and Bob Swisher of San Diego.

She is also survived by brother Bill Meacham of Burnsville, Minn., sister Mary Kay Thompson of Sioux City, 23 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Friday and Mass will be at 8:45 a.m. Saturday.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Lou Cvijanovich Scholarship Fund or Vitas Hospice Care of California.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home of Ventura.