Anne V. Swatfigure [1949 – 2024]
Anne V. Swatfigure was born in 1949 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and spent her formative years in Los Angeles. She was a financial administrator at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 37 years, retiring in 2014. She had a no-nonsense personality and a sharp wit. Her people skills had been formed from decades of working in what was typically a man’s world. But she earned respect through her hard work, dedication, and ability to quickly learn new technology. Sometimes prickly, always funny, she knew how to do her job and didn’t take guff from anyone. Anne was “an acquired taste” – she spoke her mind and was assertive, going out of her way to help and care for others. This showed in the number of friends and co-workers that were deeply loyal to her.
Anne was one of the primary “go-to” people to facilitate procurements for the design and testing of spacecraft, and learned how to bend the then-new computer-based systems to her will. She mentored others to successfully operate the procurement process and was a substantial asset in keeping the flight projects on schedule. Anne was a hidden figure in getting the nation’s spacecraft off the ground.
Having come from poverty and a childhood of terrible mistreatment, she left home at 17, got jobs and an education, and made something of herself. She finished high school at night while working various jobs, and she earned her first Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in 1985 from the University of Redlands while working at Caltech. Anne not only enjoyed working on space projects, she had a dream of managing a small airport, and achieved a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Administration from California State University, Los Angeles in 1997.
While her work centered on project administration, Anne was wonderfully creative; she composed fiction and poetry, worked in charcoal and watercolors, and was a skilled stained-glass artisan. Her friends adored receiving Anne’s annual holiday greeting card, always with a witty poem.
Anne loved airplanes, car racing, antique cars, fishing, and travel. She toured the US and voyaged to Wales and Scotland, and spent a month exploring Australia. While her adventures took her all over, her favorite place was Grand Teton National Park, which she visited as often as she could.
Anne passed away peacefully in March of 2024. She leaves a legacy for girls and women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by way of an endowment to the Society of Women Engineers: The Anne V Swatfigure Scholarship Fund.
