Celeste SWOOPE1

HAIRSTON.org ID#7487, b. 6 January 1923, d. 20 June 2014
Father*Lafayette Fern SWOOPE Jr.1 b. 13 Jan 1896, d. 2 Jun 1969
Mother*Carrie PROWELL1 b. 17 Jul 1905, d. 17 Oct 1981
Birth*Celeste SWOOPE was born on 6 January 1923.1 
She was the daughter of Lafayette Fern SWOOPE Jr. and Carrie PROWELL.1 
Census 1930Celeste SWOOPE appeared on the 1930 census of Lafayette Fern SWOOPE Jr. on 26 April 1930 in Beat 5, Lowndes, Mississippi.2

 
Census 1940Celeste SWOOPE appeared on the 1940 census of Lafayette Fern SWOOPE Jr. on 17 April 1940 in Lowndes, Mississippi.3

 
Death*Celeste SWOOPE died on 20 June 2014 at age 91.1 
Obituary*Celeste Swoope Williams, known as ‘Boo' to many, age 91, passed away on Friday, June 20, 2014 at her apartment, in Trinity Place Retirement Community, Columbus, MS.

Funeral services will be held Monday, June 23, 2014 at 10:00 AM at Gunter & Peel Funeral Home with Rev. Todd Matocha officiating. Interment will follow at Friendship Cemetery. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service.

Celeste was born to Lafayette Fearn and Carrie Prowell Swoope on January 6, 1923, in Lowndes County. She graduated from Lee High School in 1940 and attended Mississippi University for Women. Celeste met and married her husband W. E. Williams, Jr. in 1942, and they moved to the Washington, D. C. area. They returned to Columbus in 2006. She was a member of Main Street Presbyterian Church and currently lived at the Trinity Retirement Apartments. When she was not at her apartment, she enjoyed staying at her house on the bluffs of Tibbee Creek. Celeste loved being around family and friends, enjoyed traveling and was a master level bridge player.

She was preceded in death by her parents, W.E. her husband of nearly 70 years, and her brother James Prowell Swoope.

She is survived by her son Doug and grandson, Bryce; her son Preston and his wife Tricia, and their two sons John and William; brothers and sisters: L. F. "Teeny" Swoope (Nancy), Elizabeth Swoope Reid Wiseman, Thomas K. "Dake" Swoope (Allene), William M Swoope (Willetta), Edward A. Swoope, Frank G. Swoope (Carolyn), Warren D. "Oop" Swoope (Jan), Walter "Penny" W. Swoope (Bettye), Eleanor Swoope Hairston (Nick), Charles M. Swoope (Shirley), Lucy "Boopie" Swoope Beard (David), and Burton C. Swoope (Tanya); and a great many nieces and nephews; and a number of great nieces and great nephews.

Grandsons, nephews and great nephews will serve as pall bearers.

Memorials may be sent to Main Street Presbyterian Church , 701 Main Street, Columbus, MS 39701 or Palmer Home for Children, P.O. Box 746, Columbus, MS 39703.

Published online by Gunter and Peel Funeral Home, June 21, 2014. 

Sources (www.HAIRSTON.org)

  1. [S20] Friendship Cemetery, Columbus, Lowndes County, Mississippi.
  2. [S1930] 1930 Federal Census - National Archives and Records Administration - Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.
  3. [S1940] 1940 Federal Census - National Archives and Records Administration - Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.
Last Edited15 Feb 2019