Swain remembered by family

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/12/2019 (2114 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RUSSELL — This past Thursday would have marked Matthew Swain’s 41st birthday. But following his untimely death in August, his family organized a candlelight vigil instead.

The Saturday evening get-together featured more than two dozen members of Swain’s family, who endured the freezing cold just off of Highway 16 near the Russell airport to remember their departed brother, father and son.

This spot is a short distance away from where Russell RCMP discovered a brutally assaulted Swain on Aug. 14. He eventually succumbed to his injuries after being transported to a nearby hospital.

On Saturday, Swain’s relatives attempted to turn this painful site into a place of healing, performing a traditional Indigenous drum song and pipe ceremony to help his spirit pass peacefully into the next life.

The memorial concluded at the Russell Leisure Centre, where the Swain family shared their favourite memories of Matthew during a massive feast and a video slideshow.

During the dinner, Matthew’s sister Georgina told the Sun she is comforted by the fact that her brother is in a better place now.

“I felt good being out there tonight,” she said, referencing the spot by Highway 16. “Any other time I would go by there I wouldn’t feel at peace and now I feel at peace. I know that he’s gone.”

However, Georgina also mentioned that there is still a lot of unfinished business regarding her brother’s death, since no one has been charged with his murder as of this date.

She said the local RCMP have been very cagey about giving out information about the ongoing investigation. The last thing the family heard was that the coroner’s office in Ottawa is currently analyzing evidence and that their report won’t be completed for at least another nine months.

“I want the process sped up and I would like more information from the RCMP and the investigators,” she said. “But they can’t tell us anything, because they’re afraid that’s going to compromise their investigation.”

For the time being, Georgina said the family is dedicating most of their energy to taking care of Matthew’s four-year-old daughter Dillynn, who is the spitting image of her father.

“I’ll walk in, she’ll be doing something like playing video games … and she looks just like her dad doing it,” she said. “When he was younger, he liked video games and he was all about the planets and the stars. If you ask her, you’ll see she knows what constellations are. She’s into all that because of her dad.”

Matthew was born on Dec. 19, 1978 in Yorkton, Sask., and was the youngest of five children.

According to an obituary written for the Peter Carscadden Funeral Service website, he was a very bright kid who loved to read and possessed an almost photographic memory.

Even though he was a welder by trade, Matthew also dabbled in artistic pursuits like drawing and bead work and could fix any electronics you threw at him.

While Matthew’s murder investigation remains in limbo, his family is determined to get justice and will not give up until they find the truth.

Until then, Georgina hopes that people remember Matthew as a loving family man and generous friend.

“He would give you the shirt off his back,” she said. “He’d give you the last dime in his pocket. That’s just the kind of man he was.”

The Russell RCMP could not be reached for comment by press time.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson