Hundreds gather to celebrate the life of Rory Swimm in Edwards

Hundreds gathered in Edwards on Saturday to remember the life of Rory Swimm, 23, who grew up in Eagle County.

The large crowd, as demonstrated by a show of hands, came mostly from the Vail area and Bozeman, Montana, where Rory had moved after high school. A large number of attendees hailed from Salt Lake City, Utah, where Swimm was shot and killed on Oct. 13.

Swimm was just days away from graduating from a welding program in Salt Lake City with plans to move back to Montana to pursue a welding career and to coach young skiers in a local program.

Gun violence was a theme in the speech of Swimm’s father, Robb Swimm, who invited the crowd to join him in screaming one word: “Why?”

Many of Rory Swimm’s family members spoke. Both his brother, Scott, and sister, Maggie, shared written pieces they had composed. His grandfather, Ken Swimm, said Rory and he had made plans to get together in mid-November in Bozeman.

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“The fact that I can’t do that breaks my heart,” he said. “But if there’s a message that I get from this, from Rory and the wonderful way he lived his life, we never know what’s going to happen, so we should make sure that we give friendship and love to all of those that we know we should, and as I look out at this crowd, I can see that that’s how Rory lived his life.”

Swimm’s aunt described him as resilient.

“He pushed so hard at everything he did — whether it was skiing, skateboarding or jumping off the pier — that no matter how skilled, and he was, he was always crashing and falling and sporting the latest injury,” she said. “But what I was always struck by was that he never made those falls mean anything about himself, he just simply went right back to doing what he loved.”

Several friends spoke, as well, sharing stories of how fortunate they felt to have Rory in their lives growing up in EagleVail and Edwards.

Shepherd Stone, who met Rory when he was 7, said what he will miss the most is Rory’s “gorgeous smile; his wit; his bombastic sense of humor; his beautifully twisted, artistic mind; his confidence and amazing charm.”

Robb Swimm said growing up in an athletic community in Eagle County, Rory experimented with several sports.

“Rory tried soccer, it wasn’t good,” Robb said. “Martial arts, now that was comedy. Lacrosse, Rory was out there chasing butterflies, and if you came into his little area he would just wack you whether you had the ball or not.

“But put skis on him, and he was a natural,” Robb added. “He was so good at skiing that people told me he needed to compete, but he didn’t have a competitive bone in his body, just did not care about winning the trophies … he just wanted to ski.”

An announcer once said Rory skied with “reckless beauty,” something Robb said always stuck with him.

“That was our boy,” he said to the crowd. “Your boy.”

Saying he hadn’t yet had a chance to go into the woods and scream “Why?” Swimm invited the crowd to join him in doing so, twice.

“I want everyone to know about Rory,” he said. “I want it to go viral.”

Robb said the word “preventable” comes to mind when he thinks about the shooting.

“That bullet’s path of destruction is enormous and it’s still continuing,” he said. “Someone’s precious Second Amendment right has taken our boy’s life, just for the cowardly right to bear arms, Rory lost all of his rights, all of his freedoms forever.”

But Robb said that compared to other parents who have lost children to gun violence, the Swimms are fortunate.

“We were lucky to have Rory until he was 23,” he said.

“Don’t be sorry for our loss … do something,” he added. “If we can make some way to stop this madness, that is what we need to change, together.”

While Robb Swimm said he still feels a lot of anger when Rory comes to mind, Susan Swimm, Robb’s wife and Rory’s mother, said the main emotion that comes to mind for her is joy.

“Rory was the most joyful human being I have ever known, and that joy will keep Robb, Scott, Maggie and I living our best lives,” she said. “People have asked what they can do for us, what they can do for me, and I’ll tell you what I would love for you all to do, and that is — live your best lives with the joy that was Rory.”