Jennie Louise Dickens Swearengen

Jennie Louise Dickens Swearengen was born to Bain and Mae Dickens of Thomastown, Mississippi, on April 28, 1942. 

She was the little sister of Gilbert Dickens. 

Jennie Lou graduated from Kosciusko High School with the class of 1960 and went on to spend four years in Clinton at Mississippi College where she earned a bachelor’s degree in education. After college, she moved to Mobile, Alabama, to teach at Satsuma High School, but after several years, her father’s health began declining, and she made the decision to move home to Thomastown to help him work in his general store. 

Back in Thomastown, she met and married Sam Swearengen, with whom she spent nearly forty years until his passing in 2014. She taught twelve years at Thomastown Attendance Center and after a several year hiatus, she resumed her teaching career at Leake Academy in Madden, Mississippi, where she taught for 19 years before retiring in 2016. 

Thanks to Sta Home Health, she was able to keep busy during retirement by calling to check on patients and by writing letters of encouragement to them, both duties that she thoroughly enjoyed. She was a longstanding member of her beloved Thomastown Baptist Church as the pianist and a Sunday and Bible school teacher. Jennie Lou loved young people and truly enjoyed teaching history and geography. 

She will be remembered for her famous quote “Now….take care of your business.” During the summer months, she would mail postcards to all her current and incoming students. 

Jennie Lou would wish them a great summer and tell them she looked forward to seeing them in the fall. She supported her students at many of their extracurricular activities. Jennie Lou loved Thomastown, Mississippi, its people, and her church. She was quick to inform everyone that Thomastown was the geographical center of the state! Even while taking chemo treatments, she jokingly said she was holding class at the clinic. She was teaching her nurses about Thomastown and its importance. She made them all learn how to spell “Yockanookany” River. 

She passed away peacefully at her home in Thomastown on the morning of August 30, 2021. 

She is survived by her daughter Sally Kaye Swearengen, several “bonus grandchildren,” amazing family, and a whole host of wonderful friends whom she considered family. The people who encountered and knew Jennie Lou loved her. She had impeccable manners and was an example of a true “Southern Lady.” She touched the lives of old and young. Jennie Lou will be greatly missed. 

Visitation was held Wednesday, Sept. 1,2021 at Thomastown Baptist Church from 12:00p.m. to 2:00p.m. Services followed at 2:00p.m. with Bro. Brian Hill officiating. Internment was in Thomastown Cemetery. Wilcox Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. 

Pallbearers were: Dale Edgar, David Shelley, Randy Triplett, Colby Beem, Joseph Lovorn, and Jonathan Spears. Honorary Pallbearers were: Bobby Terry, Michael Ellington, Drew Chandler, Steve Bain, and Bain Dickens. 

Memorials may be made in her memory to Thomastown Baptist Church.