Rt. Police Major Stanley Stephen "Stan" Swiney, Sr.

Columbus Police Department Major Retired Stanley Stephen “Stan” Swiney, Sr. 67, of Columbus and Upatoi, GA, passed away on Sunday, October 23, 2022 at his home.

A Celebration of Life with Police Honors will be held Saturday, October 29, 2022 at 4:30 pm in the Chapel of McMullen Funeral Home and Crematory, with CPD Chaplain Paul Moody officiating. Honorary Pallbearers will be all past and present members of the Columbus Police Department, along with his poker playing friends and traveling buddies. The family will receive friends following the services at the funeral home.

Stan was born in Joplin, MO to Willard F. and Wilma W. Swiney on May 18, 1955.  He was a graduate of Kendrick High School and Columbus College with Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Criminal Justice, and earned a Public Administration Degree from Troy University.  He joined the Columbus Police Department as a Patrolman in June, 1976 and rose up through the ranks of the department to Major in November 2002. He retired in 2017 after 41 years of dedicated service.

He married Cathy Pollock on October 24, 1987, and together they raised two children, a daughter Stephanie and a son, Stephen.  He was a Mason and a member of The Rose Hill Masonic Lodge. He was also a member of The Karl F. Eidam Fraternal Order of Police Lodge, the Peace Officers Association of Georgia, and the Columbus College Alumni Association. Stan’s love of hunting and fishing began at an early age with his dad and their hunting dogs, and continued with his in-laws after he married. He was an animal lover, especially of his German Shepherds, Ned and Buddy, his precious Beagle, Cache, and even the family cats, Fuzzy, and Jack Daniels, which he had always previously claimed he was allergic to.

Stan enjoyed playing poker with his friends on Sunday afternoons and his annual birthday trips to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker with his traveling poker buddies. He always had plenty of war stories to tell about “walking the beats” of downtown Columbus as young patrolmen with his best friend and partner, Rudy Lovell. We know this because he told us the same ones a million times! Stan loved his job so much, he often joked that he could not believe they were actually paying him to do it.

Stan was preceded in death by his parents, Willard and Wilma Swiney.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Cathy Pollock Swiney, his son, Stanley “Stephen” Swiney, Jr., his daughter, Stephanie Swiney Wise, his granddaughter, Madison Wise, his sister and brother-in-law, Faye and Curt Leslie and their children, Amanda Leslie, and Jonathan, Joshua and Curtis McCoy, his great-nephew, Jonah, and his sister-in-law, Lynn Pollock. He is also survived by his best friend and “lifelong partner in crime” for the last 100 years, Rudy Lovell, and his wife Bobbie.

The family wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the Columbus Fire Department, Station # 15 for their special assistance to us on several recent occasions. We would also like to thank the Columbus Police Department for their continued support.

Flowers will be accepted, those so desiring may make contributions to the Beagle Freedom Project at www.bfp.org or any animal shelter or rescue of your choice.