04/23/2020

People are always asking me "who was the most famous Swezey that ever lived?"

Okay, maybe they're not "always" asking me that.

Okay, actually, no one has EVER asked me that, but they should :-)

The answer is Otto Herman Swezey (1869-1959).

Okay, maybe "famous" is a stretch too, but definitely "distinguished".

He was an entomologist (studied insects) especially in Hawaii.

During WWII my Dad was in the navy and his ship was in Hawaii for a time and he said he looked for Swezeys in the telephone book and found Otto. He said Otto was very nice to him and was a dead ringer for his Dad when they met.

We share as a common ancestor, John Swezey (1619-1692), who came to America, from England in 1629, with his Dad, John Swezey(bef:1584-1675) from whom ALL Swezeys are evidently descended.

I remember as a kid, Otto sent us a bunch of rocks and shells and lava samples from Hawaii as a gift. (Better than dead bugs I guess :-)

Anyway, Otto identified a number of previously unknown bugs in Hawaii.

One was named after him - "psyllid genus Swezeyana".

How cool is that? - to have a family "bug" :-)

I think that's a good thing ... isn't it?

As a Software Engineer, I study "bugs" myself, it must run in the family, 
but I don't really want one of mine named after me :-)

I know what you're thinking, "Tom you're making all this up just to be silly". Because you know me and I'm always making things up just to be silly :-)

But this is for real! Google it!

Otto Herman Swezey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Herman_Swezey

Otto Herman Swezey (1869-1959)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Swezey-79

Someday I'll have to go to Hawaii and swat one of these - just out of respect :-)

"Waiter! Waiter! There's a psyllid genus Swezeyana in my soup!"
"Please don't speak so loudly, sir, or everyone will want one."


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