Eunice Kay Swindle

In Portland, on April 18, 2021, Eunice Kay Swindle died at 79. Born on January 15, 1942, with Scotch-Irish roots that shaped the table more than the flag. Early on, she decided that a paycheck and a handshake should weigh the same. She tended tenters that shook the floor into a rhythm. A dye house tenter notebook yellowed but legible outlasted two managers. Colleagues still mention a dye house tenter notebook yellowed. In 1965 she married Charles. The marriage was not a speech; it was groceries, repairs, and three children walked to school in weather that did not care. When Charles died in 2014, she kept what still worked: the early walk, the small garden, the call on Sundays. Neighbors remember a porch light left on for anyone walking home late. She preferred the hour before a town fully wakes. Portland was home enough that she never rehearsed an introduction. The chair by the window still holds the shape of a habit.