Mr. Swing was born in Los Angeles on May 2, 1972, the oldest of three children of Filipino immigrants, Ellis D. and Aurora S. Swing. His father is a political consultant and businessman; his mother is a retired clinical laboratory scientist.
Mr. Swing earned a bachelor’s degree in ethnic studies from the University of California, Riverside, in 1995 and spent six years in the Marine Corps Reserves as a personnel and administrative clerk, the family said.
After a stint as a probation corrections officer in Riverside County, he worked as an education and health consultant for programs in Costa Rica, Vietnam and the Philippines. Returning to Los Angeles, he worked at several Filipino-American cultural and business organizations before joining SIPA.

He died with plans unrealized, including a workshop to address anti-Black stereotypes among Filipinos. He also took part in community efforts, like a nearly $500,000 city project to build a gateway arch and columns marking the entrance to Historic Filipinotown, which crosses the neighborhoods of Echo Park and Silver Lake.
Next up was a plan to redevelop SIPA’s headquarters to include 64 units of affordable housing. Its small business center will bear Mr. Swing’s name.

When Food & Wine magazine declared in a headline last year that “Historic Filipinotown Is L.A.’s Next Great Dining Neighborhood,” an unseen player in this rise was neither a chef nor a restaurateur.
John Eric Swing spent the last five years helping restaurants and other small businesses in the community through a nonprofit called Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, or SIPA. In April he became the organization’s executive director.
“John basically got me started,” said Justin Foronda, a registered nurse who in 2017 decided that he wanted to start a restaurant. “I didn’t know anything about finance or running a business. But I’m passionate about my neighborhood, and passionate about food. He was a master connector. Any question you asked, the answer was always ‘Yes.’”

As posted in the New York Times – Those We’ve Lost