Westmore, VT - Emerson Howland Swift, 95, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, October 28 in Newport, Vermont. Howland, as he was known, was born June 7,1930 in Princeton, New Jersey to Emerson Howland Swift and Anne Swift (Davis).

Howland and three sisters were raised in Princeton (down the street from Albert Einstein.) His father was a professor of art history at Columbia University, and his mother was a chemist with Kodak. In 1939, Emerson Howland Sr. had a year's sabbatical and took the family to live in France.  After high school, Howland attended Williams College, graduating later from Cornell University with a bachelors' degree. In his thirties, he earned his master's in business administration from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

In 1951, Howland married Molly Shannon with whom he raised three children and moved from the East to the West Coast. During his early career in the hospitality industry, Howland worked in resorts from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia to the Bahama Islands, finally settling in Southern California.

After separating from Molly (1958), and while working at UCLA, Howland met Roberta Ann Miller. They were married in Santa Cruz, California in 1960 and moved north. Howland lived in Woodside California when he launched his second career as a developer of college and university housing. In 1972, while their two sons were still in grade school, the family set off on an adventure, living aboard a sailboat in the Virgin Islands for two years.

Roberta and Howland traveled extensively, immersing themselves in the art, culture, and cuisine of places they visited throughout North America and abroad. No place they visited was loved more than the family's summer camp at Lake Willoughby, Vermont, a retreat enjoyed by six generations of the extended Swift family.

Howland and Roberta moved from West to East, living in Virginia, Maryland, and New York – wherever Howland's third career as a college and university fundraiser took them. Before settling year-round in Massachusetts and finally Vermont, they lived 10 sunny winters in Green Valley, Arizona.

Howland will be remembered as 'the life of the party,' an engaging storyteller, and the patriarch of the Swift family. In his retirement, he enjoyed crossword puzzles, his book club friends, and was active in the Westmore Association, the Old Stone House Museum, and other local organizations.

Predeceased by his wife, Roberta Ann Swift (Miller), as well as two sisters, Lilias Barton and Nancy Tanner, Howland is survived by his sister Jean Phinney, and four of his five children and their families: Susan Swift (Brent O'Malley), Loren Swift Merritt (Scott Merritt), Joshua Emerson Swift, Ethan Howland Swift (Annsunee). His first son, John Howland Swift of Noti, Oregon, died in 2019. "Grandpops" will always be lovingly remembered by his six granddaughters: Lani Winzer, Iona Swift, Anya Swift, Zoe Swift, Umaryn Swift, and Isarah Swift.

E. Howland Swift will be interred at Lakeview Cemetery in Westmore. A celebration of his life will be held in the summer of 2026.

Knight Funeral Home of White River Junction, VT has been entrusted with arrangements and online condolences may be expressed at www.knightfuneralhomes.com.