Remembering the Victims of the Eaton Fire: A Brother’s Quest to Preserve His Sister’s Memory
For months, David Swayne didn’t feel the need to speak publicly about his sister’s death. It was by no means a secret — friends shared memories of her on Facebook and family gathered to honor her life last spring — but he and his brother decided to avoid the media spectacle that surrounded victims of last January’s devastating Eaton fire.
However, as the one-year anniversary of the deadly firestorms approached, Swayne started to feel as though the memory of his sister, Lora Swayne, was becoming an afterthought. He worried that the lives lost — a total of 31 in the dual disasters that forever changed Altadena, Pacific Palisades, and Malibu — are being forgotten amid a growing focus on the future.
People gather to listen to a band on the anniversary of the Eaton fire at Fair Oaks Burger on Wednesday in Altadena.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
A Life of Service and Love
Lora Swayne, 71, was a lifelong resident of the unincorporated town, spending most of her life in west Altadena where her parents settled in the 1960s — part of a wave of new homeowners who helped form a thriving Black community. She was the eldest of three, and easily fell into her role as a protective, but fun, older sister, David said.
She went on to graduate from Pitzer College and worked at Cathay Bank for most of her professional life until she recently retired, her brother said. She bought her own home in west Altadena on East Las Flores Drive, where she raised her only son, not far from her parents and David’s family’s home. She was an avid reader, loved to dance, and was a devoted single mother.
David Swayne holds a photo of his late sister, Lora Swayne, at Fair Oaks Burger on Wednesday in Altadena.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
A Brother’s Grief and Quest for Remembrance
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