Russell Swinney:  

At the age of 16, in 1958, prior to Enrolling in the freshman class at Escambia High School in Pensacola Florida, I was known as James Russell Garner. After "graduating from Turner Lee Day Elementary, Warrington Elementary and Warrington Jr. High all located in Warrington, Florida it became time to enroll in High School. That process required that my birth certificate be shown and be made a part of my school records. The school officials told my Mom and Dad that unless my records were in the same name as my birth certificate in future years it would cause me problems in joining the military, obtaining a passport, getting jobs, etc. My mother divorced my biological father (James Russell Swinney Jr.) when I was a infant and later re married Lucious “Buck” Garner who raised me and who was the only father I ever knew I had. I learned that was not the case when I was enrolled to enter High School and was the reason for the name change to Swinney on entering High School. When I started my freshman year of High School. the name change caused a lot of confusion for the other kids I grew up with who had always known me James Russell Garner, not James Russell Swinney III .For many years after leaving high school from time to time someone from the past would still refer to me as Garner.. I dropped out of the class of 60 at Escambia in January of 1960, midway through the school year because I was bored & joined the Navy to see the World. I saw as much of it as I wanted and came back home after I finished my enlistment in 1963. While in the Navy, it became apparent that a high school drop out would have a very limited career choices, so I completed my Sr. year while on duty with the Navy via a GED program and then qualified for and received a High School Equivalency Diploma from the State of Florida.. Later I went on and earned my Associates Degree from Pensacola Jr.College and my Bachelors Degree from Nova University out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida both majoring in Criminal Justice. After my navy tour I tried different jobs including (don’t laugh), attending a beautician college for a month or two Thought it would be a money maker and as a way to meet the gals. It was, but I decided it wasn’t for me. I then worked as a cook then as the Manager of Woerner’s Restaurant in Warrington for Al Woerner. Al was the original owner of Woerner’s Resturant in Brownsville and the originator of the term “ The Hot Cake King:” Later he took on Oscar as a partner and then later sold his interest in the Brownsville location to Oscar and opened another restaurant in Warrington on the southeast corner of Navy Blvd and Gulf Beach Highway. He later sold the restaurant in Warrington to go into the real estate business I then went to work at Monsanto for while and then sold Insurance for a while and decided neither of those were what I wanted to do for a life time. Saw an ad in the paper advertising for Deputy Sheriff at a salary of $378 a month. It was a lot less then I was making selling insurance but as soon as I tried it, decided that was what I wanted to do for a career. Rest was history. I was there from 1965 until 2004 when I retired. Was fortunate to have been in the right place at the right times and at the same time having mentors and friends who helped me along the way so that I was promoted to Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain and to Major my last eight years before I retired. The job had its ups and its downs but overall it was good for me and my family. In the early years it required frequent moonlight jobs but later as the promotions came it provided a decent income and benefits so that we were never hungry and always paid our bills. I met a Shelbyville; Indiana farm girl in 68 who had came to Fla. for a visit, by the name of Daryl Robinson Snyder. She was a young widow who had lost her husband after a drunk driver hit him head on. They had three children; David Mark, Charla Jo and Paul Alan. We married in 69 and I changed her name to Daryl Lee Swinney. ...Expand for more