by Donna Swagerty Shreve
Our family tale begins with my paternal great aunts wanting to further their education. Ethel Aldrich wanted to become a teacher and her younger sister, Lucy, wanted to be a nurse’s assistant. Hughson, California was a small farming community and did not offer higher education. San Jose had the then College of the Pacific which would give Ethel the education she needed. Lucy was able to find a nursing school nearby. Their father, A.L. Aldrich, was semi retired and decided to move to San Jose so his daughters would be chaperoned while they continued their education. A.L. Aldrich had moved into the town of Hughson and given over the running of his ranch to his son-in-law, Wilbur Swagerty, husband of his daughter Lulu.
As a side note, A.L., my great grandfather, was soon bored and applied and received a job being a manager of the Standish Ranch. Lucy received her nursing training and Ethel had completed three years at College of the Pacific. In her last year, the college decided to move its campus to Stockton, California. In 1924 Ethel finished her last year in Stockton and graduated there. College of the Pacific had built a dormitory called the girls dorm and I am guessing Ethel resided there as single women were housed in secure dorms with a house mother and rules. She went on to become a teacher in Eureka, California where she had a long career. Meanwhile A.L. gave over his current manager job to his other son-in-law, Elmer Swagerty, husband of Pearl Aldrich. A.L. moved back to Hughson and Lucy moved to an apartment with a female roommate in San Jose.
The next generation brought nephews of Ethel. Clem, Floyd and Darrell Swagerty played football at San Jose High School School and received partial football scholarships which was the practice at the time. Darrell, father of Keith, had a girlfriend back home in San Jose and he decided to quit college and go home and marry her. Clem met Effie Calderwood at C.O.P. and they wed. Floyd Swagerty met Melva Boone, my parents, and married her while attending College of the Pacific. Melva’s brother. Ron Boone, followed her to College of the Pacific and graduated. Also in this generation was Ray Hunter whose mother was Helen Swagerty, sister of Elmer who was the father of Clem, Floyd and Darrell.
Another generation came along with Keith Swagerty, son of Darrell, getting a basketball scholarship. At college Keith met his future wife Jan Maxwell. I, daughter of Floyd and Melva, went through University of the Pacific at the same time as cousin Keith. At U.O.P. I met and married my husband, John Shreve, who was attending with a partial music scholarship. Jane Swagerty, my sister, attended for a bit.
What I find amusing is that a majority of the family struggled to pay the high cost of attending. University of the Pacific is a private university and tuition is high. Many of us had scholarships or loans to make ends meet. A few of the family married someone with money but most of us found someone of similar financial means. The family legacy ended with Keith and me. However, Clem stayed quite active in the Alumni Association and was instrumental in getting the alumni family award for the Swagerty family before he passed.
A fifth cousin, Dr. William Swagerty taught history at U.O.P. and received the status of professor emeritus after he retired. If U.O.P. looks back over our legacy, I would guess we would be remembered for sports.
One hundred and two years later, I am sitting for a ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Southwest Hall. What at one time had been three separate buildings now housed 390 students and three faculty members. The old structure needed to be upgraded to accommodate the demands of the modern student. It was going to cost more to upgrade than to tear down and start all over. The outside is beautifully done with bricks of same vintage as the other buildings on campus. Waiting in the audience, I looked around and could see many generations and many people who looked familiar and were also old but I would be hard put to say their names. I did see some alums I recognized and could name and had fun catching upon memories of the “good ole days.”
The ribbon cutting ceremony had a variety of V.I.P.s from the many aspects of the university and state government. I felt special pride knowing I represented three generations of U.O.P. alums who resided in the old Southwest dorm. I am counting Great Ethel in the dorm in 1924. Melva Boone, my mother, attended in 1939 and 1940. Other family members attended the university but were housed in other spaces. In 1963 to 1966 Keith Swagerty lived in South Hall in the same room Melva had in 1939-1940 when it was a women’s dorm. John Shreve was a resident assistant in South Hall in 1964 to 1967.
As we sat in the audience waiting for the ceremonies to begin, John and I noticed all of the changes from our years so long ago. We would have to have freshman orientation to even know where to find various services that now have moved to new buildings.
After the official ribbon cutting, we waited in line until we could have a tour of the new dorm. There were many wonderful additions that were not available in our day. There are study rooms for various group sizes. A conference area has a large television to use for larger group presentations. As we entered a dorm room, I was amused. I am convinced the basics of bed, dresser, desk and closet were so similar to what we had back in our day. In 1964, I lived in an all girls dorm. This was a mixed dorm but the bathrooms were separate by sexes. The individual stalls are very private with ceiling to floor doors. The showers have similar design.
The new dorms are beautiful with many extra features such as a central court yard and private inside storage for bicycles. I was curious about the three faculty rooms. They were all housed at the end of the third floor. Each room offered not much more than a typical student dorm room. All three share a bathroom and shower. There is a small basic kitchen and living area with sofa and television. Laundry facilities are also provided. If a faculty member is single and has very little worldly goods, it could be a possibility. You are certainly among your students in a very communal space.
The event gave both of us a chance to remember and look back at our decision to attend this college. I almost felt like a movie was going in my head of what the campus used to look like. Some things change and look so different while others really stay the same.
1162 words
8/11/2026
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