Spirit of America Award winner — Kathy Swan

Where to start?

Service as an elected and/or appointed official — school board, city council, Cape College Center, state representative, state Coordinating Board for Higher Education and state Labor and Industrial Relations Commission.

Volunteer for various organizations — Southeast Missouri Food Bank, Zonta Club Cape Girardeau, United Way of Southeast Missouri, American Cancer Society and American Heart Association.

Community builder — Saint Francis Healthcare System Board; councils, boards and committees at Southeast Missouri State University; roles with Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce; and president of American Freedom and Enterprise Foundation.

Also, a nurse and a teacher of nurses.

For all her work in those areas — and many more — Kathy Swan is the 2024 recipient of the Southeast Missourian’s Spirit of America Award.

She accepted the award Thursday evening at Cape Girardeau’s Great American 4th of July Celebration at Arena Park.

Kathy is an indispensable person, one who everyone wants to be part of their organization or effort because they want to tap into her knowledge and experience.

More than that, what makes her as valuable as she is to all she serves and works with is her character. Bedrock values of integrity, working hard toward goals, compassion.

During her legislative career and beyond, Kathy has championed education. From the local school board to her decade on the Coordinating Board for Higher Education and to her eight years in the state House, she supported students at all levels. She helped launch a reading program matching volunteers with youngsters. She helped pass legislation to screen students for Dyslexia and ensure student safety by requiring background checks for school volunteers. She worked toward ensuring local students could take advantage of state scholarship opportunities.

Of the many projects she’s been involved with over the years, one that sticks out in our memory is of Kathy donning her nurse’s scrubs to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Few have done as much to exemplify the true spirit of America as Kathy Swan. We are proud to honor her with this year’s award.

Congratulations!