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With sadness, the MBL notes the passing of John F. Swope, JD, a member of the MBL Council since 1998, on April 29 at age 86. The MBL flag will be lowered in his honor.

Swope and his family have a long connection to the MBL. His father, Gerard Swope Jr., served as Chairman of the Board from 1953 to 1971 and together with his wife, Marjorie Park Swope, planned and financed MBL building expansion and design in the late 1960s and 1970s. The Swope Center was named for them both.

Born in Mt. Kisco, New York, John Swope graduated from Tabor Academy in 1956. A 1960 graduate of Amherst College, he continued his studies at Yale Law School, graduating in 1963. Following a career as an attorney and executive in the insurance industry, he retired as president of Chubb Life in 1995.

One of his earliest jobs was at the MBL, working in the Collecting Department under John Valois. He continued his MBL association throughout his life, including helping to establish a relationship between MBL and Prince Albert of Monaco, who visited MBL in 2018. Swope established the Swope Family Scholarships at MBL in 2022, an internships and teacher training fund for high school and undergraduate students and teachers.

He leaves his children, Kristin Swope, a member of the MBL Council, Kevin A. Swope, also a member of the MBL Council, and John G. Swope; a grandson, and many extended family members. He was predeceased by his wife, Marjory Mason Swope, and two brothers, Gerard L. Swope and Stephen P. Swope.

An obituary provided by his family and reprinted below.

John Franklin Swope of Concord, New Hampshire, died on April 29. He was 86.

Born in Mount Kisco, New York, to Gerard Swope Jr. and Marjorie L. (Park) Swope, he was a lifetime summer resident of Woods Hole.

He graduated from Tabor Academy in 1956. A 1960 graduate of Amherst College, he continued his studies at Yale Law School, graduating in 1963.

In 1962, he married Marjory Mason in Milburn, New Jersey. Soon after, they moved to Concord, New Hampshire, where he joined the United Life & Accident Insurance Company as an attorney. He became its president in 1977, and president of its parent company, Chubb LifeAmerica, in 1980. Following his retirement from Chubb in 1995, he became affiliated with the Sheehan Phinney law firm in Manchester, New Hampshire.

He served on several corporate boards, including Bank of New Hampshire and Northeast Utilities. He served on the board of both New Hampshire Public Television and the national PBS board, serving as interim CEO of each at different times.

In 1975, he became involved in the efforts to transform the old Capitol Theater in Concord into the Capitol Center for the Arts, serving as emeritus board member from the center’s opening in 1995 until his death. In 2011, he donated 77 acres of open space on Jerry Hill to the City of Concord to create Marjory Swope Park, to honor his late wife’s conservation efforts.

He was a longtime trustee of Tabor Academy, the Currier Museum of Art, a member of the MBL Council at the Marine Biological Laboratory and a member of the corporation at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

He leaves his children, Kristin Swope of Framingham and Woods Hole, Kevin A. Swope of Framingham and Woods Hole, John G. Swope of Staunton, Virginia, and Woods Hole; a grandson; and many extended family members.

In addition to his wife, he was predeceased by his brothers, Gerard L. Swope and Stephen P. Swope.